


As long as you're mine

by chocoletties



Category: Day6 (Band), K-pop, Kriesha Chu - Fandom
Genre: A Little Bit of Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, F/M, First Time, Getting Together, Multi, Mutual Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-03-29 15:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19022614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocoletties/pseuds/chocoletties
Summary: The thing is, Jae has never really been great with romance. He's always been too awkward or too shy or too extra to flirt, so he was getting used to the idea that maybe it just wasn’t his time yet. What he hadn't realized, though, was how badly he actually wanted romance to be a part of his life until he met her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> • The idea for this fanfiction came from Kriesha Chu's episode on After School Club, because her interactions with Jae were super sweet;  
> • Needless to say, this is purely for entertainment;  
> • The story starts the moment Kriesha is about to leave the ASC Studio, which means it's set in February, 2018. I have changed a few things so the timeline is not 100% accurate, but I tried my best to not make any major changes;  
> • I also tried to be as much canon compliant as I could;  
> • Minjoo and Coco are completely out of character since I don't know their personalities, but I needed them in the story;  
> • This is the first fanfiction I've written in a while, so I'm sorry if it's not that good;  
> • English is NOT my first language, I apologize if there are any mistakes (even though I try to be careful);  
> • A huge shoutout to my friends who helped me by being my betas and encouraging me to publish this;  
> • Special thanks to Julli, for hyping me the most and spending endless hours talking to me about possible storylines to follow;  
> • Thanks to Jess, for always reading everything and giving me her honest opinion.
> 
> I really hope you like it!  
> Please let me know what you think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"And just for this moment_  
>  _As long as you're mine_  
>  _I've lost all resistance_  
>  _And crossed some border line_  
>  _And if it turns out_  
>  _It's over too fast_  
>  _I'll make every last moment last  
>  _ _As long as you're mine"_

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey!” a voice echoed down the hall “Kriesha! Wait up!”

The girl turned around to face the tall, skinny boy who had just spent an hour making fun of everyone in the studio.

“Oh, hi, Jaehyung sunbaenim!” She smiled.

“So... you’re leaving already?”

“Well...” she looked confused “the show is over, right?”

“No, I mean, yeah, but do you wanna grab something to eat? Later? A few of us are getting together tonight and-“

“A get together? Why wasn’t I invited?” Jimin suddenly approached and barged in the conversation “Yo, Kevin, why didn’t you invite me to go out with you guys?” the girl shouted so her friend could hear her from a certain distance.

“Out where?” the boy shouted back, as he walked towards the group.

“Jae said you were going out to grab some food but apparently forgot  
to leave an invitation at my desk.”

“What? Jae didn’t-“

“Kevin, my man, you really are not getting any younger. Maybe you should get your brain checked. Remember I talked to you about it right before we went live?”

“No? You–" Kevin looked at Jae’s expression, who was standing next to Kriesha. Well, he had noticed the way the boy had looked at her during the show. All of a sudden, this whole misunderstanding was completely understood. “Oh! Yes! Of course I remember, I’m sorry.” Jae let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Jimin, it was really just a spur of the moment thing, but we were obviously going to invite you.”

“Well, of course you say that now.” Jimin rolled her eyes, but giggled right after.

“So, what time and where?” Kriesha asked with an awkward smile.

As they decided on the details, Jae’s mind started to wander around his wardrobe, trying to figure out something to wear. He shook his head involuntarily. “What’s wrong with me,” he thought to himself. “Keep it together, dude.” Well, the truth is Jae hasn’t felt this way about someone in a really long time. For so many years now he has been focusing on his work and hasn’t given dating much thought, though sometimes he admits he misses it. Needless to say, all these feelings surely caught him off guard. He wasn’t expecting any of this. He had literally just met the girl a couple of hours ago. But there was something about her... he couldn’t quite point his finger on what it was, but it kept him wondering... what if?

“Hey, are you alright there?” Kevin asked as he noticed his friend had spaced out for a moment.

“Yeah, I’m fine, man. Thanks.”

“They look like they really bonded!” He pointed his chin at Jimin and Kriesha, who were walking side by side, talking and laughing.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So... you and Kriesha, huh?”

“What? No, she just seems like a nice girl.” He tried to act chill. “Besides, it’s not like she’d ever be interested in someone like me anyway, so I’m cool.”

“Jae, come on. You can try to fool me, but you can’t fool yourself.” Kevin patted his friend on the back. “And for the record, she’d be lucky to have you.” Jae felt his face blushing and opened his mouth to try and say something, but Kevin went on, “8pm tonight. Don’t worry, I’ll have an excuse to get myself and Jimin out of there before the clock strikes 9.” The black-haired guy smiled as he walked away from Jae and towards the girls.

***

“Siri, do I look okay?” Jae asks his phone app after trying his fourth — and supposedly final — outfit option.

“Judging from your voice, I say you must seem fairly attractive.” Siri answered the boy, who dropped his phone on his bed.

“Yeah, you said that the other three times, too.”

“What, so you take fashion advice from phone apps now?” Wonpil said as he bluntly entered the room. “You could just ask for my help.”  
Jae couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m sorry, when my sense of fashion includes hot pink sweaters, I’ll make sure to come to you.” Wonpil pretended to be hurt by his friend’s remark, but he’s used to it by now.

“Thanks for knocking, by the way.”

“Sorry. Younghyun hyung is naked in the bathroom waiting for me.” Jae widened his eyes, looking at Wonpil.

“Wait...” Jae shook his head, “what?!”

“He went in to shower, but forgot to take his towel with him, so he asked me to grab it.” The boy explained, as he motioned to get said piece of cloth.

“Oh, wow, the places my mind just went to.”

“What?”

“Never mind, Wonpilie.”

“WONPIL-SSI, MY TOWEL!” A naked, wet Kang Younghyun exclaimed from the bathroom.

“Sorry, gotta go.”

Jae closed the door after his friend left and looked in the mirror one more time. He considered cancelling. It’s never gonna happen, he thought, so he might as well just end it before it even begins. What’s the point anyway, right? He would just end up hurting for sure, and he had been able to run from that for so long that he doesn’t really feel up for it now. But, well, like I said: there was something about her that kept him tip-toeing on what ifs. So yeah, he was going. Half hoping things work out well and half hoping he’d be disgusted by the way she eats, he was going.

“What are you so dressed up for?” Brian asked as he walked into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, immediately searching for pieces of clothing in his closet.

“First, I’m not dressed up. Is this how you think I look when I’m dressed up?” He looked down to stare at his pair of jeans and a plaid shirt. “Second, it’s impossible to get any privacy in this apartment, isn’t it?”

“Dude, you do know we share the same room, right?” a now semi-dressed Kang Younghyun rhetorically asked. “And about the outfit, your jeans don’t have holes on them, so I’m assuming you’re not going somewhere that casual.”

“Yeah, actually... Man, this is weird.”

“Spill it, Jae.”

“Nah, it’s nothing. Really. I’ll just... I’m meeting Kevin and Jimin tonight.”

“How many years have we known each other and for how many more do you think you can actually fool me?”

“I’m serious, dude. Just ask them.”

“Fine. Then I can come, right? We can all just go together.”

“No! I mean, sure... hm...”

“You don’t wanna tell me, it’s fine. Just don’t get yourself into too much trouble, okay?” Brian said as he laid back on his bed.

“What are you talking about? I won’t—“

“I’ll tell the guys you had an off-schedule ASC meeting to attend, if they ask anything. You know they will.”

“Thanks.” Jae grabbed his phone, wallet and keys. “Why the hell didn’t I just think of that before?”

“I’m the brains of this group, don’t forget that.”

“Yeah, you wish.” The oldest said, while closing the bedroom door behind him. He left the apartment quietly after grabbing his coat, hoping no one would notice his absence. Aside from Brian, the other three were playing video games, as they had the day off. Lucky for Jae, the chances of them noticing anything outside the tv screen was remarkably small.

 

* * *

 

 As the restaurant was somewhat nearby his place, Jae decided to walk. He was an hour early and fairly anxious, so he figured walking would do some good. However, it was awfully cold in Seoul this time of the year, not taking him too long to admit to himself that this was a terrible idea. Nevertheless, now that he was already on his way, he just kept on walking. “What was I thinking?”, he’d been asking himself that, unrelated to the freezing weather. “Do I even know how to do this anymore?”

The truth is Jae has never really been great with these things. He was always too awkward or too shy or too extra to flirt, so he was getting used to the idea that maybe it just wasn’t his time for romance yet. Sure, he has dated a couple of people along the way, but that was different. Or rather he wanted it to be different this time. He wanted to experience something new, now that he feels more mature. He just didn’t realize how badly he actually wanted it until he saw her.

Half an hour later and barely feeling the tip of his fingers, Jae arrived at the restaurant. Still early, but he figured he should go in to get a table for the four of them. What he didn’t expect, though, was that Kriesha would already be there.

“Table for one?”

“Uh... what?” Jae shook his head and blinked his eyes fast as if he was coming out of a transe.

“Are you here alone, sir?” The small, chubby receptionist asked.

“No. I’m with—“ as he was about to point at the four-seat round table taken by one, he froze. “I’m waiting for my friends, I’ll just... I’ll just go outside.”

“It’s so cold why don’t you just wait he—”

Before the woman was able to finish her sentence, Jae left the restaurant and sat on a bench outside. While nervously shaking his right leg, the boy grabbed his phone and kept staring at the black screen — he needed to text someone. Who could he text, though? No one knew about anything. No one knew anything because Jae was not one to talk about his feelings. No one knew because Jae felt too scared to open up sometimes.

Before the boy could even unlock his phone, he got a text from Kevin saying he was going to stop by to pick up Jimin and then they’d be on their way. Jae looked at the time. 7:40PM. He figured his friends would be there soon, so he could handle a few minutes alone with her. Yeah, it was no big deal.

“Let’s get it,” the boy said to himself.

Pretending to be oh-so-chill, Jae went back in the restaurant and informed the woman that his friend was already inside waiting for him, he had gotten it wrong earlier. As he was walking towards her, his only hope was that he wouldn’t bump into a waiter and accidentally light the place on fire or something.

"Hey.” Jae approached her, gently resting his hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, hey!” Kriesha got up to greet him. They both went for a handshake so the greeting wasn’t as awkward as it could’ve been.

“You’re a bit early, huh?” The boy asks as he sits down next to her.

“Yeah... Gosh, this is kind of embarrassing, I guess.” The girl said with an awkward grin.

“What?” Jae blinked his eyes rapidly, interested in what she was about to say.

“I got the time wrong. I thought we were supposed to meet at 7PM.” She said. “So I got here around 7:15 PM thinking I was already late, only to find a text from Jimin unnie confirming our dinner... at 8PM.”

“Ah man! That’s too bad! You’ve been sitting here alone this whole time?”

“Yeah... but it’s alright, aside from the fact that the waiter passed by me and asked ‘are you sure you don’t need a table for one?’ about three times.” Kriesha said and they both let out a shy laughter.

After that, the two of them sat in awkward silence. Kriesha turned her head and caught Jae looking at her, but he acted nonchalantly, as if his eyes were just wandering around.

She smiled and opened her mouth suggesting she might say something, but no sound came out. The boy relaxed his posture a bit on the chair and found a napkin to play with, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

“So...” Kriesha started “when do you think they’re gonna be here?”

This question caught Jae a bit off-guard, making him feel slightly more insecure than he already was. She was clearly not enjoying his company.

“Kevin said they were on their way,” Jae shrugged, “but I don’t really know.”

“Oh,” she sighed “okay.” The girl grabbed the menu from the table to look at the same dishes she had been staring at for the past forty minutes in order to seem like she was doing something so she could avoid an even more awkward conversation.

“Do you know what you’re gonna order?” Jae suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

“Not yet.” She answered automatically, accidentally establishing the such feared eye-contact.

They stared at each other for about five seconds. More awkwardness, great.

“Yeah... me neither.” The boy finally responded.

“This is actually my first time here.” Kriesha said shyly, putting her hair behind her ear.

“Seriously? Man, this place is dope!” Jae involuntarily gets up and sits next to her to look at the menu together. “Uh... can I sit here? Is that okay?”

“Yeah, totally!” The girl tried to hide the fact that she was actually a bit nervous with the situation.

“Okay, so...” Jae points at the menu. “I don’t even like fried rice that much, but you have got to try their kimchi fried rice.”

“Ah! I was considering that, actually. How do you not like fried rice? It’s so gooood!!”

“Well, I like this one.” He smiled at her, which made her smile back.

“Touché.”

There it was, that silence again. Except it wasn’t as awkward now.

“Hey, guys!!” Kevin said “I’m sorry we’re late!”

“Dude, we’re like three minutes late, chill.” Jimin added. “Hi, peasant. And Kriesha.”

“Hey” Jae and Kriesha said in unison as Kevin and Jimin sat down at the table.

“Oh! Jinx!” the girl said quickly.

“Oh my God, that’s genius! Now Jae can’t say a word for the rest of the evening.” Jimin teased, making them all chuckle.

“She really got you there!” Kevin pointed out as Jae rolled his eyes.

“I’m sorry?” Kriesha said with a strained smile. “I’ll unjinx you! Unjinx!”

“You can’t do that—“ Jimin argued.

“Too late, it’s already done!” Jae stated, mimicking a grand gesture with his arms. “I am back,” he looked at Jimin, “peasant.”

“Kriesha, please excuse my friends, they’re both twelve and sometimes it’s too much for them to sit at the adults' table.” Kevin tried to say it with a straight face, but ended up smiling at the end.

“It’s all good.” Kriesha said “They’re actually kinda nice.” the girl smiled.

“I am, he’s not. I’ll be a good unnie to you.”

Jae tried to defend himself from his friend’s mean remark but it just led to more teasing. From then on, they all laughed and had fun effortlessly as they dined — it was almost as if they had all been friends for a long time already. The new girl didn’t feel that new at all. However, Jae couldn’t help looking at her every chance he got. She was pretty, yeah, but it wasn’t about that. It wasn’t about how she looked or acted or dressed. It’s almost like he was trying to find something in her that could explain why he cared so much. He kept searching within her eyes, lips, cheeks, trying to find the reason why she made him feel all those things. But perhaps that “something” lies deeper than what his eyes could grasp.

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to learn that.” The girl noted.

“Maybe Jae could help you! Right, Jae?” Kevin asked.

“Um, what exactly did you say? I’m sorry, I spaced out for a second.”

“Oh.” Kriesha looked at him. “I was just saying that I want to learn how to play guitar.”

“Ah! For real? I can help you, yeah, I can definitely help you.”

“Really? Oh gosh, thank you so much!” The girl exclaimed and clapped her hands. “This is exciting!”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal! We can just schedule a date... on the calendar, I mean.”

“Yeah...” She put her hair behind her ear again, “I guess.”

“Hey, Jimin, we gotta get going. The studio is booked for 10pm.”

“What?!” Kriesha protested.

“Ah! Yes! Kevin and I are working on a cover together and apparently the only time he could arrange us the studio was tonight at 10pm.” Jimin made a sad face.

Jae looked at Kevin, who was half-smiling at him. He knew what his friend was doing, he just didn’t know whether to be thankful for it or start panicking again.

“Hey! You guys could totally come! It would be so much fun, right, Kev?” Jimin said, excitingly.

“Yes! I’d love to.” Kriesha exclaimed.

“No!” Kevin overlapped the girl’s sentence. “I mean, wouldn’t it be nice if it was a surprise?”

“Hmmm...” The girl gave it a thought, “I guess...”

“Uh... Actually... I think maybe you guys should stay a little longer." Jae heard the words come out of his mouth before he even realized what he was doing. Panicking it is.

"What?" Kevin said with a confused expression on his face. "But the studio... um, it's really booked for 10PM, you know?"

"Oh, right." Jae felt a little guilty about the trouble his friend went through for him. "Yeah... I mean... Did I tell you McKay owns his own studio now? I'm sure he'd be okay with you guys using it sometime this week..."

"McKay?" Kriesha asked.

"Yes! He's a friend of ours." Jimin explained. "By the way, how is he? I haven't seen him in, like, forever!"

"Are you sure, Jae?" Kevin asked. "Don't you want to be alone wㅡ I mean, didn't you mention you were working on a collab with McKay? Wouldn't you guys want the studio for that?"

Jae gulped at the thought of almost being discovered, but answered his friend calmly, "No, it's okay, we can work something out!"

"Well, I'd love it if you guys stayed, I'm having a lot of fun tonight." Kriesha smiled, which warmed Jae's heart. And Kevin's. And Jimin's. She was just that adorable.

"Well, for me it's settled." Jimin said, reaching for the dessert menu, "I told Kevin it wasn't a good idea to sing after dinner anyway." She took one hand to her stomach, "My diaphragm won't even be able to move after eating so much!"

"Hey, no one forced you to get stuffed like that!" Kevin tried to defend himself.

"Shut up, let's order some dessert." Jimin requested.

"Yay! I'm with Jimin on that one!" Kriesha raised her hand to high-five her new friend, a gesture which was promptly corresponded.

"Nice!" The girl replied, sharing the menu with Kriesha while they decided what to order.

Kevin kept looking at Jae, trying to understand what the hell happened that made the boy change his mind. Truth is not even Jae himself could quite fathom the reasons as to why he started freaking out like that. He wanted to be alone with Kriesha, of course ㅡ the only problem was that he didn't know how. When he saw everything working out so smoothly throughout dinner with the four of them, he sort of felt like suddenly things could go wrong if Jimin and Kevin left. He sort of felt like he wasn't enough... for her.

They finally made an order and Kriesha took Jae's suggestion on what she should try, which made the boy all proud of himself. The conversation, again, went effortlessly, with the sound of their laughter filling up the not-so-crowded restaurant. Comments were made amongst them on whether they were being too loud or not, but since no one seemed to be disturbed by their uncontrollable joy, they just shrugged and kept on sharing their funny stories.

"Jimin, please, if you keep saying things like these, you're gonna scare the poor girl off!" Kevin pointed out, while taking a napkin to the corner of his eyes in order to dry off the happy tears that were pouring out of him.

"No, really, I wanna hear all about unnie's stories!" Kriesha demanded, taking a bite of her caramel mille-feuille (which by the way was delicious – thanks, Jae).

"Okay," Jimin said, still laughing a little. "Remember when Red Velvet came to ASC?" She looked across the table to face the tallest. "Jae had such a crush on Seulgi!"

"What?!" Kriesha gasped, taking her hands to her mouth and trying to hide her laughter.

"What?!" Jae screamed. WHY, JIMIN, WHY???

"Whoa, Jim, are you sure the only thing you had this evening was this coke?" Kevin glanced at her.

"Don't even try to deny it. Kevin told me you confessed everything over drinks that very same week." She said, taking a sip of her coke.

"WHAT?!" Jae gave his friend a look that he thought was saying "I'm going to kill you", but in reality he just looked very desperate with his wide eyes and half open mouth.

Kevin was also taken aback by Jimin's sudden revelation and mouthed "I'm sorry" to his friend. The boy also wondered how Jimin could be so clueless about this situation; she's usually pretty good at picking up hints like these.

Okay, to be fair Jae did have a crush on Seulgi (can you really blame him?), but it was completely platonic. He crushes on people, that's not an entirely new thing. The new thing is that this time he actually wants to do something about it.

"C-can we please just… just change the subject?" Jae begged.

"Alright, alright." Jimin replied, taking note of how flustered her friend looked. "I'm sorry, dude. Really, I didn't think it was a big deal."

"No," Jae shook his head. "It's okay."

"But hey, no one answered me!" Jimin protested, "How's McKay doing?"

"I actually ran into him last week, he was with Woosung." Kevin said. "He's been working on a new single, though, so he hasn't been able to do much lately."

"What? I didn't even know that." Jimin complained. "No one tells me anything anymore."

While they argued, Jae and Kriesha quietly finished their desserts. It's not like the mood got heavy or anything, it was just a little awkward for him to make eye contact with… well, anyone at that particular moment. The girl, though, from time to time would look up at her new friends sitting across the table and smile or agree with something they said.

"Kids, now we really should get going, it's getting late." Kevin pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right." Jimin agreed. "I'm riding back with you, Kev."

"You guys should go. This is my treat tonight, don't worry about it." Jae said, while making a gesture for the waiter to bring over the check.

"Are you sure?" The other three asked him.

"Yeah, it's no trouble." The tallest grabbed his wallet and took out his credit card as soon as the waiter came.

As they were gathering their things and saying goodbye to each other, Kriesha thanked them for showing her such a good time. They all looked happy and were already talking about doing this again. Not too long after, Kevin and Jimin left, leaving Jae alone with Kriesha, who were now standing outside the restaurant, feeling cold. Really cold.

"Thank you for dinner, sunbae." Kriesha bowed, grateful. Jae smiled when he heard how she called him.

"It was my pleasure, really." He replied. "How are you getting home? Do you need anything?"

"I think I'll get an uber." The girl was putting her gloves on and Jae was a little jealous because all he had was his coat pockets. "I'm headed that way." She pointed.

"Oh… Actually, me too."

"Oh, good! We can share a car!" There it was again. That damn smile.

They decided to split the ride home, but the uber was still a few minutes away. It was so cold, not even the drivers wanted to work that night.

"Hey," Kriesha started while Jae was looking at his phone screen, drawing his attention to her. "Did she ever find out?" She looked right at him. "Kang Seulgi sunbaenim."

"What? No!" The boy said, his head a little dizzy. "But it's not like I wanted her to find out..." He gulped. "I mean, nothing would ever happen, I wasn't that interested in her and she would never be interested in me."

"Why not?" Kriesha narrowed her eyebrows.

"You know…" He shrugged.

"Not really." She shook her head negatively.

"It's just…” The boy was avoiding eye contact again. “I don't know, it just doesn't make sense in my head, honestly." Despite the chilly weather, Jae could feel his cheeks awfully hot.

“That's silly.” The short girl smiled. “She would be lucky to have a guy like you!”

Jae turned his head to face her. “You think so?”

“Of course,” she giggled. “You just bought me dinner, I think the highest of you.”

“Oh, so that's how it is!” Jae pretended to be hurt. “You think someone likes you for who you are and thㅡ”

“I like you for who you are, Jae.” She said, looking at him. “Sunbae. Jae sunbaenim. I'm sorry.”

“No, it's fine. You can just call me Jae, I don't mind at all.” His phone vibrated in his pocket. “I think our uber is getting here.”

“Oh, good, cause I may look at ease but I'm actually freaking freezing!” She said and they both shared a laughter.

The car finally arrived and they both got in. The ride wasn't that long, less than 10 minutes to Kriesha's place and then a couple more to Jae's. They kept talking the whole way home, though, and it didn't feel awkward at all. Whenever Jae looked at her, he could feel something inside him changing, growing. It was almost physical. The hardest part was that he had absolutely no clue whatsoever about what was going on or why he was feeling like this.

As soon as the car pulled over in front of Kriesha's building, the girl didn't hesitate to say:

“We still need to schedule that date!”

“What?” Jae widened his eyes staring at her.

“For the guitar lessons! You said you could help me now that I'm trying to learn.” She gave him an eye smile.

“Oh!” Jae felt his heart racing, but tried to act cool. “Yeah, yeah, sure. Text me sometime, it's cool.”

“Okay! I gotta go now! Thanks again for dinner, Jae. Good night!”

“Good night!” Jae replied.

She turned to the driver, “Good night, sir!” but didn't get an audible response. “Alrighty, bye!”

She closed the door and Jae couldn't help but follow her with his eyes. After the driver stepped on the accelerator, the boy shook his head and took out his phone, looking for something to distract him. Of course there were 352 messages on the DAY6 chatroom. Oh, look at that, they're all Wonpil and Dowoon discussing on whether or not it's possible that the fossils some scientists found a thousand miles away from where they lived was from an actual ancient dragon that used to walk (or fly?) the Earth. Nothing new here. Why they were texting each other while on the same apartment was beyond Jae's understanding.

“Wait, what was that?!” Jae said, startled by the sudden braking of the car. “Why'd you stop?!”

“Your girlfriend,” the driver said, “she's running after the car.”

“My girlfㅡ” Jae turned around and saw a tiny, skinny girl running as fast as she could and mouthing somethingㅡno, screaming something he couldn't hear. As he rolled down the car window, he could clearly hear his name being called desperately. “Kriesha?” he said out loud, confused.

“Jae!!!” She finally caught up. “You told me to text you.”

“Yes?” He narrowed his eyebrows.

“I… I don't have your number.” She was trying to catch her breath, but quickly handed her phone to the confused boy so that he could dial his number.

“Oh. Right.” They both stared at each other for a few seconds, Jae was already with Kriesha's phone on his hand. Suddenly, the boy broke into laughter. “I can't believe how dumb this is!” He exclaimed. This also made Kriesha laugh, even though her whole body was aching from running. She should really exercise more.

“Here.” Jae handed her phone back. “There you go. Now text me.” He couldn't believe how confident he sounded when he said that.

“If I wasn't going to, do you think I would've ran like that just so that I wouldn't, you know… lose you?” She put her hair behind her ear and smiled shyly.

“I can't believe you did that, to be honest.” Yep. It was official. This girl had cast a spell on him.

“Me neither.”

Silence was established for a few seconds while they looked at each other.

“H-hm,” the driver cleaned his throat. “We gotta go, kids.”

“Oh, God, I'm sorry.” Kriesha took a few steps back. “I'm gonna let you go now.”

“Please don't”, Jae thought. Instead, what came out was “Yeah… I mean, I kinda have to go.”

“Bye… again. And…” She looked at him, regretful. “Sorry.”

Jae heard the car engine starting but he didn't say a word. The driver took off before he could manage to think of a response. He wanted to say “It's fine”. He wanted to say he hoped she'd text. He wanted to say how happy he was about tonight's dinner ㅡ even more about their ride home. He wanted to say something, anything. But he didn't. Not a word. “This is so stupid” he thought to himself.

“What?” He heard the driver ask. Perhaps he wasn't thinking to himself as much as he was thinking out loud.

“Oh. Nothing.” He shook his head.

The drive home went by silently, which Jae was actually thankful for, because his mind was already being so loud that he wouldn't be able to take other noises from outside as well.

 

* * *

 

When he got home, he saw Sungjin and Wonpil still playing games (he had been out for almost 4 hours!) and Dowoon sleeping on the couch. Brian was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey.” Sungjin said, without taking his eyes off the screen.

“Hey.” Jae replied, making his way to his bedroom.

“You're here?” Wonpil asked rhetorically. “How was the meeting?”

“What meeting?” Jae automatically responded. Damn it.

“The one you just came back from, silly.” Wonpil turned his face in Jae's direction, causing him to die on the game. “Nooooooooo!!!”

“HA! I WIN!” Sungjin celebrated.

“No, but I want a rematch!”

“No way, I won fair and square!”

While they kept discussing, Jae took his queue and went to his bedroom. Brian was there, still up, with his major headphones on and typing something on his phone.

“You're here?” He took off the headphones off to greet his hyung.

“I'm here.” Jae said, throwing himself on the bed as if his body couldn't take another minute standing.

“You okay?” Brian asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Me? Yeah. I'm fine. Just tired.” He said, keeping his eyes closed the whole time. “I think I'm just gonna go to sleep.”

After a few minutes, Brian said:

“You do know it's okay to share things with your friends, right?” This was the boy's last attempt to make Jae talk. Since all that followed was silence, we can safely assume it failed.

Jae just pretended to be asleep. It was silly even, why couldn't he just tell Brian, a close friend he's known for so long (with whom he even shares a room!) about that? “There's this girl I like and I wanna go out with her.” There. Simple. But Jae knew the minute he said those words out loud, there was no coming back from them. It would suddenly become real. More real than he wanted it to be. Or maybe just as real as he wanted it to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the first chapter of this fanfiction!  
> I'll post more soon, don't worry.  
> Please let me know if you guys like it. :)


	2. Chapter 2

The next day the boys basically had to work all day. They'd alternate between practicing together and working individually. Brian kept writing lyrics non-stop, Sungjin was working harder on his guitar skills, Wonpil came up with an idea for a new melody and was taking notes while testing it on the piano, Dowoon was super focused on not making any mistakes on the drums and Jae wasㅡ

“Hello!” Sungjin clapped his hands in front of him to try and get his attention. “Earth to Jae!”

“Yo, what's up?” The boy shook his head and blinked his eyes, coming to his senses.

“I should be the one asking you that,” Sungjin replied. “We were just talking about how weird you've been all day. You barely even touched your guitar and you keep checking your phone every 5 minutes.”

“Jaehyungie hyung is the most diligent out of the five of us.” Wonpil completed. “What's going on?”

“You didn't even realize I was practicing singing a while ago…” Dowoon said, sounding actually a little hurt.

This kind of broke Jae's heart. Seeing how worried his friends were about him… If they only knew how silly it all is! Which brought Jae to a thought: he shouldn't be worried like this. So what if she hasn't texted him yet? So what if she never texts him, ever? It's not silly to like someone, not at all, but it _is_ silly to let it get in the way of work. Jae had never let that happen before, not even with the serious stuff, why was he letting that happen now?

“Guys, seriously.” He realized he was still holding his phone, which he let go at once, placing on the table. At that moment he was glad they were practicing on their own that day, only with a few coaches coming in at times to help them out with some things. He'd hate to disappoint them, too. “I'm sorry. I'm okay. My hㅡ my mind's been a little troubled. But I can handle it.”    The boys looked at Jae and then each other, nodding silently in agreement. They were the kind of people to respect one's privacy, even though they didn't buy Jae's answer at all.

“And Dowoonie!” Jae exclaimed. “You're doing great, man.” The boy gave his friend a thumbs up. I'm not even gonna lie, Dowoon literally glowed after receiving the compliment.

From then on, Jae started focusing on what he had to do. That's the best thing about his work ㅡ when he's focused, it's like the whole world disappears.

The afternoon went by smoothly. Since they had the day off yesterday, they weren't even that tired while practicing. They skipped lunch without even realizing till Brian's stomach started complaining; so they decided to order pizza and share it in the studio.

As usual, although they were working, they were also having a lot of fun. They were sitting on the floor eating pizza while taking a little break and the laughter just wouldn't stop. It started when Wonpil asked for the “perepponi” pizza and now it's just them sharing funny awkward stories like this one. At that moment, Jae looked at his bandmatesㅡat his friends and the first thought that came to his mind was “God, these guys are weird.” But the close second was “I'm so lucky to have them.”

It had been a while since Jae even thought about the past day or about Kriesha at all. But then he felt his phone vibrating and his heart immediately started racing. He really wanted it to be her.

 

**< Message from Dumb Jaimon>**

**_Yo, check out this video kkkk_ **

**_This dog is riding a bike_ **

**_Wtf_ **

 

It wasn't. It was just Jimin, he could get back to her later.

Jae started to lose hope that she'd ever text and then he realized how dramatic that was because a) they had just met and b) he gave her his number yesterday. Maybe she had a busy day, just like him. Remind him why he didn't ask for her number again? He would’ve texted her by now and all of this gut wrenching feeling would be gone. Attempting to shake that feeling away, Jae rolled his eyes and sighed it off. He grabbed his guitar again and got ready to go back to work.

“Guys, let's do Yeppeosseo.” Sungjin said. “The english version, since we're gonna have to perform it on the mini live.”

“You really wanna sing Yeppeosseo after eating all that pizza?” Brian asked, sitting (or lying?) on a beanbag cushion and resting his hand on his stomach.

“We can just focus on the instruments for now and practice the vocals later.” Sungjin replied.

“Alright but can I get 5 more minutes…” a child-like Kang Younghyun begged his leader-nim, but it didn't quite work.

After performing a whole mini concert in the studio worth of 9 consecutive songs and getting everything perfectly on point, the boys decided to finally wrap up the day's practice. The clock on the wall announced it was already 1:30AM, but they’d had left the studio way past that so many times before.

As everyone was gathering up their things, Jae grabbed his phone, put it on his backpack and closed it. The boy then stopped for a second and involuntarily reopened it to get his mobile back and give it  a look. 1 new message. Okay, cool.

 

 **Message from <Unknown Number>** 

**_Jae sunbaenim~_ **

**_I wanted to check with you if that offer for the guitar lessons still stands :)_ **

 

* * *

 

 

You have no idea how long it took Kriesha to come up with that text. Truth is she didn't know yet how she felt about Jae and that scared her a little. She's always been the type to know for certain what she wanted and just go for it, but for some odd reason, this time it caught her completely off-guard.

Sure, she already thought Jae was cute and attractive from the start (and he had been so nice to her!), but after that dinner, after she really _saw_ him, she realized it was more than that. The way he made her blush when he said the word “date”! Or how comfortable she felt with him on the ride home… It all made her even more interested.

When they said goodbye and she realized she didn't have his number, she couldn't just let him go, right? No. She needed those guitar lessons, after all. So she ran as fast as she could in hopes the driver would see her from the rearview mirror. She didn't even think much, to be honest, she didn't ponder on whether she should do it or not, if it would make her seem like a total nutjob or not... She just did it. It was like an involuntary muscle contraction, her body just took the lead and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

But afterwards, she was glad she did. He didn't seem to think she was crazy. Instead, the smile he gave her made her feel like he thought the whole scene was cute. Good. Jae thought she was cute. Throughout dinner the day before, Kriesha noticed the boy was being extra careful around her which made her wonder if he was also into her. She's not exactly dumb, but she's not great at telling if someone likes her either, so she couldn't know for sure how he was feeling.

After she got home, she changed into her warm pajamas and got her phone to text her best friend.

 

**_You: Minjooya, are you there?_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Hi, unnie! I'm here. What's wrong? Did something happen?_ **

 

**_You: No…_ **

**_You: I mean…_ **

**_You: Not yet?_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: ?????_ **

**_Minmin ♡: Unnie, should I be scared??_ **

 

**_You: No!!!_ **

**_You: Everything's okay, it's just…_ **

**_You: I like someone._ **

**_You: And I felt like I should share this with you because it's what we do._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: OMG!!!!!_ **

**_Minmin ♡: Who is it????_ **

**_Minmin ♡: Tell me everything!!!_ **

 

**_You: They're actually also in the industry..._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Well where else would you meet someone? It's not like you go out clubbing every weekend._ **

 

**_You: LOL_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡:  Wait a minute… When did you meet this person?_ **

 

**_You: Today, why?_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Today you went to ASC, right?_ **

**_Minmin ♡: Unnie, please don't tell me it's Kevin!_ **

**_Minmin ♡: (I'm pretty sure he's gay)_ **

 

**_You: MINJOO!!!!_ **

**_You: It's not Kevin LOL_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Okay good_ **

**_Minmin ♡: Is it Jimin??? She's hella cute… And that voice…_ **

 

**_You: Minmin, you're gay, not me._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Okay, but do you know if she is? Asking for a friend…_ **

 

**_You: OMGGG, shut up, you're like 2._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Sorry, unnie._ **

**_Minmin ♡: But she's totally my type._ **

**_Minmin ♡: Back to you now._ **

**_Minmin ♡: I guess that leaves…_ **

**_Minmin ♡: Jae?? From DAY6??_ **

 

**_You: …_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: OH MY GOD, UNNIE!!_ **

**_Minmin ♡: If I liked dudes, he'd definitely be my type._ **

****

**_You: Rightttt???_ **

**_You: Minmin, he's so cute. We went to dinner afterwards. Kevin, Jimin, Jae and I. Then Jae and I shared an uber on our way home… I think he might like me too, but you know I'm terrible at knowing these things._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Did he ask you for your number?_ **

 

**_You: Not exactly…_ **

**_You: But I asked him for his…_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: You go, girl!!! Now text him._ **

 

**_You: Idk what to say yet…_ **

**_You: He did say he'd teach me to play guitar, though._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Then text him about that!!!!_ **

**_Minmin ♡: (That's super adorable btw)_ **

 

**_You: He's adorable._ **

**_You: Minmin, it's late. I should go. Tomorrow I've got that music show and I gotta be there early._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Okay, unnie._ **

**_Minmin ♡: Kill it!_ **

**_Minmin ♡: I'm so proud of you! ♡_ **

 

**_You: Thank you!_ **

**_You: I have a feeling this is gonna be your year too :)_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Please let that happen!!!_ **

 

**_You: It will, you'll see._ **

**_You: Good night, Minmin._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Goodnight, unnie._ **

 

That night Kriesha went to sleep with her heart completely at peace. Talking to Minjoo sometimes made her feel like that, you know. Even though her friend was three years younger than her and sometimes Kriesha treated her like an actual baby, there were times when the girl just seemed to be so much more mature somehow. And not just that, Minjoo was so chill about everything, nothing was complicated; and if it was, she would surely find a way to uncomplicate it. Kriesha admired her a lot for that.

The next day went by quicker than she would've assumed. The music show was so nice and fun, the girl just loved performing her new song. Plus, she even got to talk to the girls from twice backstage and they're so nice. She still remembers when she met them for the first time and told her they actually voted for her on Kpop Star! That was crazy. I mean, it's TWICE. Quite possibly the biggest girl group in Korea. And they voted for her. Learning that was some dream-like fantasy.

As soon as she got home and took a shower, Kriesha decided to make something for her to eat. That's when she saw her guitar just unpretentiously lying on her couch, which put a smile on her face, making her think of a certain someone.

That's it. It was time for her to text him.

She grabbed her phone and opened a chat room with him.

  

**_Hey, Jae!_ **

**_What's up :)_ **

 

Okay, that's way too informal.

 

**_Hello, Jaehyung sunbaenim!_ **

**_I was wondering if perhaps we could schedule a date forㅡ_ **

 

And that's too formal.

  

**_Hey, sunbae!_ **

**_I'd love it if we could possibly you know get together forㅡ_ **

 

Hmmm… no.

 

**_Hey, Jae!_ **

**_I think you're terribly cute and I wanna go out with you. ;)_ **

 

The girl giggled at her phone as she typed that and quickly deleted the message, going back to square one.

Why is it that everything she thought of saying sounded way too dumb or too eager? It was just a text, for crying out loud! Get yourself together, Kriesha. Let's do this.

 

**_Jae sunbaenim~_ **

**_I wanted to check with you if that offer for the guitar lessons still stands :)_ **

 

Okay. That's good, it's good. It's polite, yet casual and nice. Kriesha hit send before she could change her mind. That's when she looked at the time ㅡ it was almost 12 AM. How long had she been trying to come up with that text for?!

Maybe she should just go to sleep. Except her stomach kept making weird noises, making her realize she still hadn't eaten anything. Okay, perhaps it would be wiser to actually go and eat something before bed. Kriesha made her way to the kitchen and grabbed some bread; she decided the easiest thing she could eat right now was toast and jam.

While her slice of bread was heating up in the toaster, the girl couldn't help but check her phone to see if Jae had texted her back yet. He hadn't, but she did see a text from Minjoo waiting to be replied to.

 

**_Minmin ♡: Unnie! Did you text him yet?_ **

 

**_You: Hey, curious George._ **

**_You: As a matter of fact, I did._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: You'd think I'd be offended,  but nah._ **

**_Minmin ♡: TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!_ **

 

**_You: LOL_ **

**_You: I sent him a text, but he still hasn't replied._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: What?!_ **

 

**_You: Well, to be fair I only texted him like 20 minutes ago._ **

 

Kriesha turned off her toaster and grabbed the two slices that promptly popped out of there.

 

**_Minmin ♡: Oh, okay, I was starting to think I'd have to teach that boy a lesson!_ **

 

The girl laughed audibly when she read that text.

 

**_You: Sure, you could definitely take down a 6-foot-tall guy._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Hey! Don't underestimate the wrath of a protective best friend!_ **

 

Minjoo was really one of a kind, wasn't she?

 

**_You: Alright, Minmin. I'm sorry. LOL_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Hey, unnie._ **

**_Minmin ♡: I hope things work out between you two._ **

 

Kriesha felt her cheeks heat up as she was spreading jam on her slice of bread. She was definitely blushing. She took a bite, then placed the toast back on her plate to pick up her phone.

 

**_You: There's no things to work out… so far all we have been is friendly. I don't even know if he's seeing anyone._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Jae? Awkward as he is, seeing someone? Can't see it._ **

 

It's funny how Minjoo talked about Jae as if she knew him.

 

**_Minmin ♡: And it doesn't matter. I'm just happy you're interested in someone!_ **

**_Minmin ♡: The only love life we ever talk about is mine and I'm tired of it…._ **

 

Kriesha smiled, but rolled her eyes.

 

**_You: No, you're not._ **

****

**_Minmin ♡: No, I'm not._ **

**_Minmin ♡: By the way, how's Jimin doing?_ **

 

**_You: Goodnight, Minmin._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Heyyyy, what did I do???_ **

 

Kriesha took another bite at her toast.

 

**_Minmin ♡: Hellooooo_ **

**_Minmin ♡: Wow, you really left_ **

**_Minmin ♡: My heart aches_ **

**_Minmin ♡: I miss you too much_ **

**_Minmin ♡: Please don't leave me_ **

 

Kriesha kept seeing her friend's messages popping up, but she was determined to ignore her. I won't lie, though, those texts did make her giggle.

 

**_Minmin ♡: Okay, you win_ **

**_Minmin ♡: Goodnight, unnie. Go get him!_ **

 

**_You: I love you. ♡_ **

****

Ah, she was weak. She couldn't resist Minjoo being this cute and caring.

Kriesha finished up eating her toasts and figured it was best to leave the dishes for tomorrow, since it wasn't gonna be such a busy day anyway. She heard her phone vibrating on the table and assumed it was more of Minjoo being silly. She picked it up to read it, though her mind was already set on only replying her friend the next day.

 

 **_Message from <Jae sunbaenim>_ ** 

**_Yeah, definitely!_ **

**_When are you free?_ **

 

* * *

 

Jae didn't even think much before sending that text. It was better if he just did it instead of overthinking every detail.

He actually felt relieved when he saw that Kriesha contacted him. Maybe it was just his dumb insecurities talking, but Jae never felt like he was interesting enough, that's precisely why he put on that show of being the funny guy who acts like he thinks the highest of himself. So now seeing someone actually thought he was worth the while (even if she was just interested in free guitar lessons) made him feel special. Like he had something good to offer.

  

**_Message from <Kriesha>_ **

**_Actually I'm free tomorrow, does that work for you?_ **

Wow, she replied fast. He didn't think she would, since it was already so late.

“Hyung, let's go!” He heard Wonpil calling for him. “Turn off the lights when you leave.”

“Wait up!” Jae replied, closing his backpack and trying to catch up with his bandmates.

“Dude, what time is that meeting with the producers tomorrow?” Jae discreetly asked Brian, as soon as he reached him.

“The one about the new album?” His friend replied. “It's scheduled for 12:30PM.”

“That's our only appointment tomorrow, right?” Jae asked again.

“I guess… But we did agree to come back here and work some more since we have that all-day-long practice with the whole crew on Friday.” Brian raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Something came up, I guess.” Jae ran his fingers through his hair. “I need to help out... a friend.” The taller one starts speaking a little louder so the other boys can also hear him. “Guys! Do you think it would be okay for me to maybe leave tomorrow's practice a bit early? Around 5ish.”

The boys stopped and looked at each other for a second. Jae? Wanting to skip practice?

Okay, to be fair he wasn't really skipping, he would never do that unless it was an actual emergency. He can't even tell how many times he's been to the studio while sick or feeling like his allergies might kill him at any given second. So yeah, he'd never skip a scheduled practice, not even if it was just on their account. Still, the boys couldn't help but feel shocked that their friend was prioritizing something else for once. In all honesty, maybe they were even kind of glad.

“Sure!” Sungjin replied. “That gives us plenty of time still.”

“Yeah, for me it's alright.” Dowoon added.

The boys resumed their walk as Sungjin and Wonpil discussed who was gonna use the TV in the living room tonight.

Jae quickly grabbed his phone to finally answer Kriesha.

**_You: I have practice with the guys tomorrow_ **

**_Kriesha: Oh, I see! Of course._ **

**_You: But I'm free by 4PM_ **

**_You: If that's okay with you_ **

Jae saw she was typing and kept looking at the screen hoping she'd say yes. What the hell was taking her so long?

**_Kriesha: Yeah! That'd be great!_ **

She tooks three whole years to type _that_?!

**_You: Cool_ **

**_You: Text me your address_ **

He waited for a few minutes, but there was no response whatsoever. Even though according to the app she had not opened the message yet, Jae started to panic, thinking she might have read it on her lockscreen and thought he was coming on too strong. I mean, they hadn't even gone on a real date and yet here he was asking her for her address. What's up with that?! But then again, what other choice did they have? They needed somewhere at least semi private so he could help her with the guitar.

Still, Jae felt it would be best to change the mood a bit.

**_You: Hey?_ **

**_You: I was thinking_ **

**_You: We could maybe do something before_ **

**_You: Have an iced coffee somewhere_ **

**_You: You could tell me a little about your… expectations?_ **

**_You: On learning guitar, I mean_ **

**_Kriesha: That sounds nice!_ **

**_Kriesha: I could totally go for an iced coffee._ **

Okay, maybe that was a better approach.

**_Kriesha: Then afterwards we can come back to my place :)_ **

**_Kriesha: Have some peace and quiet._ **

**_Kriesha: You know… for all the guitar playing._ **

Oh.

**_You: Yeah, sure_ **

**_You: :)_ **

Jae kept thinking about this for a second. Okay, so he was coming to Kriesha's place. That's cool. Did she have any roommates? Would they be completely alone? How would that be like? Would he bore her? Would it be awkward? What was he going to wear? And what exactly was he going to teach heㅡ ok, stop. Snap out of it, Jae.

**_Message from <Kriesha>_ **

**_Nice! Can't wait for tomorrow! :)_ **

Brian really didn't want to pry (okay, sure) but as they were getting off the subway, he read Kriesha's name on Jae's phone screen as the message popped up. It didn't take him half a second to realize what had been going on. He smiled to himself, feeling like a genius who just cracked a secret code.

He didn't mention anything, though, until they were all back at the apartment and he was alone with Jae in their room. Truth is Dowoon was also their roommate, but for some odd reason the boy would always end up sleeping in the living room.

“Jaehyung-ssi.” Brian started, “I think I know what's been going on.”

“What?” Jae instantly felt his heart racing, but kept acting cool. “What do you mean?”

“You've been acting funny since Tuesday.”

“I have?” Jae blinked.

“Yes, you have. And hyung, that's the day you met Kriesha.” Brian boldly affirmed.

“What are you suggesting?” Now he was really panicking. He wasn't even expecting Brian to know who had been the ASC guest that week. So he _does_ pay attention. Damn it.

“I'm not suggesting anything, but I _am_ asking.” The boy paused for a few seconds. “Why didn't you fucking tell me sooner???” Brian said that, making the both of them share a shy laughter.

“Dude… I don't know.” Jae shrugged. He was past the point of denying anything.

“That's why you were all dressed up on Tuesday night, right?” Brian elbowed his friend. “You guys went on a date?”

“For the last time, _I was not_ all dressed up.” Jae rolled his eyes. “And yeah… I mean, not exactly.” Brian looked confused, so Jae felt he owed the boy some sort of explanation. “It wasn't a date. Jimin and Kevin were also there.”

“Oh, so that part was true.” Brian added.

“Yeah. I wanted to go out with her but then my brain had some sort of malfunction and I ended up inviting all of them.” Jae scratched his hair.

“You mean the whole ASC crew?!” Brian asked, a little shocked.

“What? No!” Jae shook his head. “Now coming to think about it, that was actually kinda rude…” The boy lost his focus for a second. “Anyways, just Jimin and Kevin. Which already caused enough damage.” They both giggled. “Jimin told her I had a crush on Seulgi…”

“Oh, I remember that!” He exclaimed. “Your video search history was a mess…”

“Oh God, shut up.” Jae laughed, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. “But yeah… I thought it was kinda embarrassing that she said that and then Kriesha even asked me about it again when we were alone.”

“What did she ask, exactly?” Brian sounded intrigued.

“If Seulgi sunbaenim ever found out about my crush.” Jae replied. “I said of course not, which was probably for the best because she would never be with a guy like me anyway.”

“Dude that's nㅡ” Brian gave up on telling Jae how that's not true since he knew his friend wouldn't listen. “Well, what did she say then?”

“She made a joke about me buying her food.”

“What??”

“She said Seulginim would be lucky to have me, because I could buy her food, the way I had just bought her, Kriesha, dinner that night.”

“Hyung!” Brian let out an audible laughter. “She didn't say that because of the food.”

“What?” Jae was the one confused now.

“She likes you.”

“You think so?” Truth is that thought had crossed Jae's mind on that very moment, but his insecurities quickly convinced him he was a hundred percent crazy. Can you imagine liking someone and having them like you back?

“Well, from where I'm standing, it sure sounds like it, man.” He affirmed. “So, that friend you need to help tomorrow…?”

“Yeah, it's her.” He couldn't help but smile a little. “But it's true, I _am_ helping her. I'm teaching her how to play guitar.”

“You? Teaching?” Brian raised both eyebrows. “I feel sorry for her.”

“Hey!” Jae grabbed the first thing he could reach ㅡ which luckily was a pillow ㅡ and threw at his friend. “I'm an excellent teacher!”

“Your english student Kim Wonpil begs to differ.” Brian teased.

“Come on, you know my star student is Dowoon.” Jae remarked.

The two of them just kept messing with each other from then on. Jae, glad he could finally tell someone the truth (even if it had been taken out of him); Brian, happy for his friend. It wasn't until half past 3AM when they decided they should finally go to bed, since they wouldn't be able to sleep late the next day.

 

* * *

 

Kriesha smiled when Jae texted her back. She was pretty happy and relieved that the boy was still in the mood for seeing her again (even if just for the guitar lessons). As she kept waiting for the guitarist’s reply, Kriesha couldn't hold back her smile. He didn't respond right away, so the girl caught herself wondering about what she wanted to happen between the two. It felt silly and she immediately felt like a teenager (which, let's be honest, she _was_ until not that long ago) with a huge crush on the rockstar next door.

Her phone vibrated again.

**_Message from <Jae>_ **

**_I have practice with the guys tomorrow_ **

Oh, cool. Coolcoolcoolcoolcool.

**_You: Oh, I see! Of course._ **

Well, what else could she say?

**_Jae: But I'm free by 4PM_ **

**_Jae: If that's okay with you_ **

Yes, Jae. That was definitely one hundred percent okay. Kriesha quickly typed her reply but kept looking at the screen, wondering if she should hit send. Should she really go out with him? What if she ended up boring him? Like, what if she was so terrible at playing guitar that he just gives up on teaching her? Was she really ready for all that?

Ah, who cares?

**_You: Yeah! That'd be great!_ **

As soon as she typed that, Kriesha put her phone away for a while. She tried so hard not to get lost on what ifs, but her brain just wouldn't cooperate, so she decided it was best to just go back to her room and try to get some sleep. But first, she grabbed a half-full bottle of red wine from her fridge (girl liked her wine cold) and poured some of it into an empty glass.

As she felt the wine warming her up on the inside, Kriesha thought about how long it had been since she went out with a guy. Last time she could recall, she was still living in San Francisco, still in high school, still a teenager. Truth is ever since Kriesha moved to Korea to pursue her dream of becoming an idol, she had to put aside some of her social life, and that subsequently included dating. She really had no idea how Minjoo could be focused, a hardworking trainee and still manage to have time for romance.

Well, I guess she was about to find out.

Kriesha finished her wine and grabbed her phone, making her way to her bedroom. As she checked it, she saw Jae's last texts to her.

**_Jae: Cool_ **

**_Jae: Text me your address_ **

**_Jae: Hey?_ **

**_Jae: I was thinking_ **

**_Jae: We could maybe do something before_ **

**_Jae: Have an iced coffee somewhere_ **

**_Jae: You could tell me a little about your… expectations?_ **

**_Jae: On learning guitar, I mean_ **

She noticed the first two texts were a few minutes apart from the ones that followed and kinda giggled to herself thinking the boy might have panicked a bit when she didn't reply right away.

**_You: That sounds nice!_ **

**_You: I could totally go for an iced coffee._ **

Now, she couldn't leave him hanging, could she?

**_You: Then afterwards we can come back to my place :)_ **

**_You: Have some peace and quiet._ **

**_You: You know… for all the guitar playing._ **

**_Jae: Yeah, sure_ **

**_Jae: :)_ **

**_You: Nice! Can't wait for tomorrow! :)_ **

And she really couldn't.


	3. Chapter 3

“Rise and shine, beautiful!” Kriesha heard a familiar voice echoing in the back of her mind and assumed she was having a weird dream, so she just adjusted herself in bed, wrapping up her body even more between the blankets. That's when she felt a strong ray of light piercing through her windows. Someone had opened the curtains.

“What???” Kriesha got up at once and felt her heart racing. “What's happening??” She widened her eyes but had difficulty grasping who that silhouette belonged to for about two seconds. “Minjoo? Ugh!” The girl threw herself back on the bed. “You just scared me to death! What's wrong with you?!” She looked at her friend, who was just laughing. “I knew I'd regret the day I gave you this spare key.”

“Shut up,” Minjoo said “stop pretending like you don't want me here.” The girl made her way to a very comfortable chair that was located on Kriesha's bedside.

“What are you doing here, Minmin?” Kriesha asked, half of her face buried on her pillow.

“Oh, I was just in the neighborhood…”

“You live literally two blocks away.”

“Precisely! I'm always in the neighborhood.” Minjoo replied. “Can't a girl pay a visit to her best friend anymore?”

Kriesha looked at Minjoo and narrowed her sight. “You just want updates on the Jae thing, don't you?”

“The Jae thing,” the girl continued “So that's what we're calling it? So impersonal.”

Kriesha turned around to stop facing her friend.

“That's rude!” Minjoo stated. “I knew you had the day off, no meetings, no music shows, no nothing. So I decided to come over so we could binge watch our favorite shows and end up having a karaoke party by ourselves.”

“But at…” Kriesha grabbed her phone to check the time, “8AM?!”

“What can I say? I missed my unnie too much.” She shrugged, then looked at her friend who was typing something on her phone. “Hey. Hey!” She jumped on Kriesha's bed. “Is that Jae? Is he texting you good morning? Are you guys going out?”

Kriesha laughed and showed her friend the text.

“Oh, it's your mom. Okay, cool.” The girl frowned. “Thought it was more exciting than that.”

“About that… why do you seem more excited than me about this whole thing?”

“Probably because I am, unnie. You know I'm a sucker for romance.” She blinked. “And besides… ever since I met you I never even heard you talk about any guy you liked. This is a huge deal! I wanna be here for you.”

“You are. Quite literally.” Kriesha looked at her friend and then gave her a gentle push, giggling after. “And actually… there is something I need to tell you.”

As Kriesha filled Minjoo in on her plans with Jae for the late afternoon, Minjoo kept making suggestions on what she should wear or what kind of makeup she should put on. Minjoo knew she could talk for endless hours about these things, but Kriesha would never follow her advices on that area. Simply because she liked being the way she was. And, honestly? Minjoo loved her for it.

 

* * *

 

The boys had just left their meeting and were now discussing the concept presented to them, based on the songs they composed. Spoiler alert: they all loved it.

“Dude, that was so dope!” Jae exclaimed. He was so excited about the meeting he even managed to keep his mind off of… other things.

“It's gonna be epic, guys.” Sungjin affirmed and all the others agreed. “We were so on fire that the meeting ended up lasting longer than expected. It's already 2:30PM!”

“No wonder I'm so hungry…” Brian said while taking his hand to his stomach.

“I thought you had lunch before leaving the dorm.” Sungjin raised an eyebrow.

“Are you controlling me now, Park Sungjin-ssi?” Brian said sarcastically.

“We should all eat something before hitting the studio.” Dowoon suggested.

“I brought snacks!” Wonpil said, grinning.

“Nah, I want real food.” Brian stated.

“Did I even offer you?” Wonpil replied, while opening his bag of chips and taking one to his mouth.

“On second thought,” Brian heard a weird noise coming from his stomach, “can I have some?”

Wonpil smiled at him. “No.” The boy turned away and kept walking as if nothing happened, making the others laugh. “Just kidding,” he stopped. “Of course you can.” Oh, Pillie, you're too nice.

They all decided to go to a restaurant nearby and saw a couple of fans recording them/taking pictures. They were always glad to meet fans, but sometimes that kind of thing felt a little invasive. Still, they were cool with it. Jae thought, in the back of his head, he hoped nobody would see him with Kriesha later.

By the time they were finished eating, it was already time for Jae to leave. He couldn't make it to practice after all. The boy said goodbye to his bandmates, telling them he was going back to the apartment to change because he had something to take care of later.

“Yes, you do.” Brian just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

“What?” The four of them asked in unison.

“Never mind.” Brian felt Jae's look on him but didn't really care. The tall, skinny boy wasn't scary at all.

 

* * *

 

To say Jae was nervous was an understatement. The boy could barely feel the tip of his toes ㅡ and believe me, it had nothing to do with the cold. As he finally settled on an outfit for the date (yes, he was calling it that now), Jae thought if it wouldn't be better to just call the whole thing off. However, he knew that by doing so, he would allow his fears and insecurities to get the best of him. So he did what every regular person with a huge crush would do: pretended everything was okay and went on with it.

Jae had texted Kriesha with the address of the coffee shop he chose for them to meet, and now he was just waiting for her to show up. He's been coming to this coffee shop for years now, and it's one of his favorite spots in Seoul. It's never crowded, so it's always quiet and… private. It was just nice.

The boy looked at the time. 4:12 PM.

Okay, that's it, she's never coming, he might as well just leave, right?

 

**_Message from <Kriesha>_ **

**_Jae sunbaenim!! I'm running a little late, but I'm almost there!_ **

**_I'm sorry!!!_ **

 

He smiled.

“It's okay.” Without even noticing, Jae said the words aloud as he typed.

“Hey!” Jae heard Kriesha's voice and looked up.

“Hey!” He replied. “Wow, I just texted you back. You were fast!”

“You've seen nothing yet.” The girl said intriguingly as she took off her gigantic coat and hung it on the back of the chair.

“Oh, really?” Jae replied, trying to hold back his smile.

Kriesha didn't say anything, just sat down and looked at him with an arched eyebrow.

“Okay. Noted.” He let out that smile, which she followed.

“This place is nice.” She stated, looking around. “How'd you find it?”

“I've been coming here for years, actually.”

“That doesn't really answer my question.” Kriesha put her elbow on the table and let her head rest on her hand.

“Well, I…” He looked a little confused, but decided to keep going. “This one day I was really stressed. Like, you know, really anxious… It was around our first comeback and we had just recently gone through a lot…” Jae looked at the girl, who was sitting across the table from him, giving him her undivided attention. “And we were given these curfews… We couldn't go out after 10PM.”

“Oh, wow.” Kriesha let it out.

“I know! Right?” Jae replied. “And that made me… it made me sad but it also made me angry… You know, we're people!” He realized he was gesturing too much, so he tried to (unsuccessfully) tone it down. “Anyway, this one day I was frustrated and I had just left the building… you know, JYP, so I was walking around Cheongdam and I didn't want to go back to the dorm. I… I couldn't, you know?” He gulped. “So I went inside the first store I saw that was open. And this happened to be it.” Jae said, letting out a sigh short after.

“So you rebelled and missed the curfew that day?” Kriesha genuinely asked, making Jae let out an audible laughter.

“No.” The boy paused for a few seconds. “I walked in, stayed for about ten minutes and ran, literally ran, to the Cheongdam station so I wouldn't miss curfew. It wasn't even 9PM yet.” They both giggled. “Nah, man, I couldn't do it. I felt angry and frustrated, but at the end of the day, it's about compromise.” He nodded and then looked around. “Ever since then I've been coming here… always. It reminds me of some things I've had to go through to get here. To be… who I am today.” He looked at her. “You know?”

The girl nodded, even though Jae's question was pretty much rhetorical.

“That's…” Kriesha paused as she searched for words inside her brain. “Intense”, was what came out, “and exactly the kind of story I wanted to hear when asked that question.” She smiled.

They stared at each other for a little while, maintaining the once feared eye contact. Even though silence prevailed, neither of them felt uncomfortable.

“Can I get you guys anything?” The young waiter interrupted, breaking the silence. “Oh, Jae hyung, what's up!”

“YJ, my man, whaddup.” The two exchanged a cool handshake.

“I guess you really do come here often.” Kriesha made her remark, unable to shake that smile off her face. That boy kept getting more captivating by the second.

“He used to come here basically once a week!” YJ pointed. “Though lately he's abandoned us.” He took one hand to his chest, faking disappointment.

“You know whㅡ”

“I know, I know, Jae hyung is super busy with his super band.” The young boy completed. “This is the first time you're bringing someone here, though…” He turned to Kriesha. “Man, he knows how much I look up to Dowoon sunbaenim. I play the drums, too. I keep dropping subtle hints that I'd like to meet him, but…” Kriesha giggled.

“Yeah, you're about as subtle as a brick through a wall.” Jae remarked. “YJ, this is Kriesha.” He gestured at her. “Kriesha, this is Youngjae. He's, like, ten.”

“I'm actually 19.” The boy corrected.

“You look younger! Doesn't he look younger?” They all laughed.

“Anyways, what can I get you guys?” Youngjae asked.

“It's a strawberry smoothie for me, dude.” Jae quickly responded, thinking it wouldn't be wise for him to choose a caffeinated drink today.

“I think I'll go with an iced mocha.” Kriesha said, handing the menu back to him. “Thank you!”

“Coming right away.” The young boy said, as he made his way to the counter.

“So… you wanna learn how to play guitar.” Jae stated.

“Yes, I do!” The girl sounded excited. “I've always wanted to.” She leaned in on the table as if she was going to tell him a secret. “You know, my mom enrolled me in piano classes when I was younger… and I find it very beautiful, but it was never what I actually wanted to do.” The girl paused for a few seconds. “Well, what I actually always wanted to do was to sing.”

“Copy that.” Jae agreed.

“I've been trying to learn a little guitar by myself, but I don't think I'm very good…” Kriesha hesitated.

“You're probably better than you think you are.” The boy pointed out.

“Well, we'll see…” She giggled. “But what about you? Why did you start playing guitar?”

“Ah!” He reacted. “So like, this one day a friend of mine came over, right? And my dad, he had a guitar that was just kinda lying there,” The boy explained. “And this friend just picked it up and out of the blue started singing while playing the guitar,” He was talking with his hands again. “I remember thinking he was pretty awesome for doing that. I thought only professional musicians would be able to do that, and do it that well.” He leaned back on his chair, relaxing. “That's when I thought to myself: If he can do it, I can too. So I started learning.”

When the boy finished speaking, he noticed Kriesha was looking at him, smiling, both her hands cupping her face.

“Hey guys,” YJ was back. “Here's the Iced Mocha for the beautiful lady,” Kriesha blushed a little, but thought it was sweet. “and a strawberry smoothie for Jaehyung hyung.”

“Thanks, man.” Jae responded.

“Thank you, Youngjaeya.” She gave him the most adorable eye smile.

“If you need anything, I'll be right there.” He pointed at the counter. “Excuse me.” YJ said as he walked away.

“He's so adorable.” Kriesha said.

“Yeah, he's alright.” Jae looked at the younger boy. “Truth is ㅡ and if you tell him that, I'll totally deny it ㅡ Youngjae has helped me a lot.” He took a sip of his smoothie. “I don't trust a lot of people, but I've learned to trust him.” He shrugged. “He's never given me reason not to. So sometimes I just come here to vent during his shift.”

“Why didn’t you ever introduce him to your bandmates?” Kriesha asked.

“Uh… Honestly?” Jae looked at her. “They don't even know about this place.” He confessed.

“Why not?” She said before taking her Iced Mocha to her lips.

“I love them to death, okay? They're not just my bandmates, they're literally my family.” Jae firmly stated.

“But…?” Kriesha continued.

“But… this place is special to me for a reason. It's where I turn to when work is overwhelming and stressful.” He sighed. “So I didn't really want those two worlds to collide, you know?”

“I think I get that.” Kriesha nodded. “Can I ask you something, then?”

“Sure.”

“Why'd you bring me here?” She blurted out the words, looking directly at him.

“I told you.” He smiled, looking back at her. “This place is special to me.” He moistened his lips before continuing. “And so are you.” Oddly, Jae didn't feel nervous at all saying that. “So I wanted to share this with you.”

The girl felt her cheeks getting warmer as soon as she heard those words falling from his lips. She bit her lower lip and put her hair behind her ear.

“I don't know what to say.” She looked down.

“I'm sorry.” Jae leaned in on the table. “Was that too much?” He reached his hand towards her direction. “Look, forget I said anything, I justㅡ”

“It's okay.” As if it was a reflex, she took her hand to his. “It's…” She finally looked up again. “It's sweet. That you wanted to share this with me.”

As soon as Jae felt the girl's touch, something inside of him felt warm and frozen at the same time. It was so stupid, to feel like that over the simple touch of a hand. But then again, it wasn't something he could control ㅡ and even if he did, Jae had a hunch he wouldn't trade that feeling for anything else in the world.

“And…” Kriesha intertwined their fingers and lowered her voice. “You're special to me, too, Jae.”

They both kept staring at each other in silence for a few seconds. Jae, wondering how he could be feeling all of those things for a girl he had only met a couple of days before. Kriesha, thinking time didn't matter at all, ‘cause when you know, you know. And, well, I guess she knew.

Not too long after, they agreed it was time to leave the coffee shop, even though they hadn't even finished their drinks. YJ came with the check, Jae teased him some more and said he would bring Dowoon in sometime to meet the kid (who almost had an actual heart attack).

The plan was to head straight to Kriesha's place since Jae had his guitar with him, but they decided to take a walk around the neighborhood.

“Do you come here often?” Jae asked.

“Me? Never, to be honest. This is like only the second time.” The girl answered.

“I'm here all the time.” He pointed at a building. “Look.”

“JYP Entertainment. So fancy.” She giggled and he nodded.

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

Jae looked around and kept walking beside Kriesha, that's when he saw a couple of girls whispering and holding their phones up, pointing at their direction.

“Hey… do you think maybe we should go?” Kriesha noticed it too.

“Yeah… maybe, I just…” He noticed they were coming towards them.

“Jaehyung oppa!” One of the girls said, still holding her phone. “DAY6 fighting!”

“Kriesha Chu fighting!” The other one said.

They both smiled and waved back.

“We love you!!”

Kriesha responded by showing a finger heart for the girls.

“Maybe we should get going…” Jae wondered.

“I agree.” Kriesha said, getting her phone to call an uber, since the last time Jae was the one who paid for it.

Jae tried to argue with her, but it wasn't long until the boy realized he couldn't win anyway, so he just went with it. In the car ride home, Jae and Kriesha sang along to all the songs on the radio and even got a compliment from the driver (who honestly did not seem to know who either of them were). The car stopped by Kriesha's place.

“Thanks for the ride, man.” Jae said, as he got off the car.

“Thank you for the mini concert.” The driver laughed. “Keep doing your thing, kids. You're talented.” They both smiled and nodded at the man, thanking him.

When the car laughed they exchanged a glance and let out a shy laughter.

“That was fun.” Kriesha said.

“Totally.” He agreed.

As they were making their way inside her apartment, Jae couldn't help but look around. He wasn't really one to notice little details about anything, but when it came to that girl who was standing next to him, it was inevitable for him to be curious about everything. One of the first things he saw was her acoustic guitar lying on her couch.

“Oh, sweet.” He made his way to the guitar. “It's a Seagull S6 Original. Brand new.”

“Whoa, you really know your instruments.” She made a remark and sat on the couch. “And yeah, I just got it last week. It was a gift from my parents.” She explained. “I used to have another one, but it's with my younger sister now. She's trying to learn.”

“That's nice.” Jae took his guitar case from off his back and gently placed it next to the couch, where he sat down, automatically picking up Kriesha's guitar and starting to play something. “Ok, so I guess your parents did some research because this guitar is actually really good for beginners.” The boy explained. “See this?” He played a chord. “See this string action? It's really balanced.” Kriesha looked at him as if she had no idea what he was talking about. “Come on, you try it.” He handed her the guitar.

“Okay.” She placed her fingers forming a chord and strumming the strings on the other end.

“See how little effort you had to make to get this clean, wonderful sound?” Jae asked.

“I guess.” She narrowed her eyes, still not quite sure, holding back a giggle.

“Wait.” Jae took his guitar off its case. “Put the Seagull aside for a second.” He looked at her. “Kriesha, meet Taylor.” The two of them shared a shy laughter. “She's perfect. But you might find her a little harder to play.” He handed it to the girl.

“Let's see.” She placed the guitar on her lap and played a chord. “Whoa!” The sound was way louder and it came out a little rough. “What did I do?” Jae laughed.

“Nothing. But this is a guitar that's built for someone who's a pro.” He winked at her and smiled, all confident of his skills. “So it's like it expects you to fully know what you're doing with it.”

“That's insane. I didn't know there were all these differences.” The girl shook her head, handing the guitar back to Jae.

“Yeah… most people who start playing also don't. So they end up getting totally wrong guitars and give up on the process.” He took the guitar and placed it as if he was going to play something.

“Good thing I have an awesome teacher, then.” Kriesha pointed out.

“You know it.” He said, playful. “Now, come on. Let's see what you got.”

“Oh.” She was taken by surprise. “Really? I mean… I only know one song.” She suddenly felt insecure.

“Let's hear it.”

“Okay.” She grabbed her guitar. “It's called Sunset Dream, it's in my mini album. But this is the English version. I was just working on the lyrics earlier today.” She explained and Jae nodded, putting his guitar aside so he could pay attention to her.

Even though Kriesha was scared of Jae's feedback of her guitar playing, the girl was most fearsome of how he would feel about the lyrics she wrote.

 

_Boy, you got me so excited._

_Boy, you're making it hard to hide it._

_I never fall that easily,_

_Something about you makes me weak..._

_Oh I..._

 

She looked at him in the eyes.

 

_And I know you don't mind it._

She showed him a shy smile.

 

_Don't think bad of me,_

_Found someone, finally_

_To make it worth my time._

_Hold me and don't let me go,_

_Boy, if you're feeling it just let me know._

 

She stopped.

“That's… it. That's what I got so far.” She let go of the guitar and put her hair behind her ear.

During the whole song, as Jae listened to the words the girl was singing, he felt something happen inside his chest. The way she was singing, the way she looked at him… no. It wasn't possible, was it? Could these lyrics… could they be about him?

“It was…” Jae was clearly at a loss for words. “I mean…” He laughed nervously. “That was awesome. Your voice is beautiful.” He managed to say. “And your guitar skills… impressive. If you keep practicing, I'm sure you'll get right where you want to.”

“Thank you.” She grinned and bit her lower lip. “Did you like the lyrics?” She asked, looking directly at him.

“The lyrics?” He felt his palms sweating a little. “Yeah… you wrote them, right? That's also very impressive… they're really good.” His reaction made her giggle. “What?” He widened his eyes. “What is it?”

“Jae sunbaenim…” She smiled and moved a little closer to him on the couch. “Maybe the lyrics are so good because…” She stopped for a second. “Because they talk about something real.”

“Oh?” Jae was caught off-guard. Even if the thought had crossed his mind, he never thought Kriesha would be so upfront about it.

“I just…” She felt her heart racing, and even though she was close to him, she was failing to make eye contact. “God, I'm sorry.” she motioned as if she was going to get away from him, but Jae gently rested his hand on her shoulder, causing a chill to go down her spine.

“No.” He shook his head. “I want to hear it.” He reassured her and she took a deep breath before saying anything else.

“I've been thinking about you.” Kriesha confessed. “A lot.” She finally managed to look him in the eye. Much to her joy, Jae was looking back at her, with the most pure, genuine smile she had ever seen. God, that boy was pure art.

“Ever since we met,” Jae said, taking his hand to adjust her hair behind her ear, so he could see her face better. “I can't stop thinking about you.” The boy's heart was racing, but somehow he still felt completely at peace. “No matter how much I try.” Jae kept taking notice of every inch of the girl's face. Her eyes, her nose, her lips. God, her lips. Words wouldn't be able to describe just how much he wanted to kiss her right at that moment.

Kriesha involuntarily got lost in his eyes, noticing how they were sparkling when he looked at her; she wondered how many galaxies he was hiding behind them. The girl then took her hand to where Jae was resting his and held it close to her cheek, even closing her eyes for a little while. It was nice feeling his warm touch.

“Jae, I…” The girl didn't finish her sentence and she wasn't even sure she actually had something to say. That's when she felt Jae's lips pressed against hers. So soft, so gentle. She immediately kissed him back, no hesitation whatsoever, and she felt like she could just stay in that kiss forever.

The moment Jae kissed her, it was like the world stopped for a little while. Nothing else mattered to him, which was something he had never experienced before. His mind ㅡ that was constantly worried or preoccupied about something ㅡ just went blank.

Or better yet.

It went red.

Red as the blood he could feel rushing through his veins, keeping every cell in his body alive as their lips danced with each other in perfect rhythm, filling the room with inaudible music, but so loud inside his chest.

Jae moved a little closer to her, sliding his hand to her back and caressing it with the tip of his fingers, which the girl promptly accepted, wrapping her arms around the boy's neck and intensifying the kiss. Kriesha wondered how it was possible that he made her feel this comfortable around him without even trying. She leaned in even closer and broke off the kiss to gasp for air, but was unable to keep her lips off the boy's skin, which led to kissing his neck as she ran her fingers through his hair.

“Ah…” Jae let out with a sigh, his head leaning back and his eyes closed.

Kriesha was making her way back to the boy's lips, but stopped to kiss his perfectly drawn jawline, which even made Jae smile a little, without realizing. As soon as they engaged back in the kiss, Jae leaned forward, making the girl lie down with her back to the couch and lying on top of her. Kriesha slightly bumped her head on the couch arm, making them both laugh, which Jae took advantage of to repeat her action and kiss her neck, and Kriesha seemed to enjoy very much. He then took one of his hands to her waist, making her gasp.

“Jae…” She suddenly said.

“What?” He immediately stopped. “Did I hurt you? Did I do anything wrong?” He asked. “I'm sorry.”

“No!” She shook her head, resting a sweet peck on the boy's lips. “You were perfect…” She took her hand to his face caressing it with her thumb. “It's just…” She said as she adjusted herself on the couch. “I've never…” She looked at him, they were both sitting up now. “You know…” She felt embarrassed. “I've never had sex.”

“Oh, that.” Jae responded. “It's okay.” He smiled and leaned in, lowering his voice. “Can I tell you a secret?” the boy asked.

“Of course.” She said.

“I've never had sex either.” The boy whispered in her ear.

“What?!” Kriesha said loudly, widening her eyes. “I mean… really?” She tried to tone it down. Jae laughed.

“Yes, really.” He took her hand, intertwining their fingers. “There are a lot of things involved in that, mostly my religion.” He explained. “But also… call me corny, but I don't think the first time you have sex should be with just anyone, you know?” She nodded in agreement. “And ever since I moved here, I haven't had any time to actually get to know someone that way.”

“I think that's really sweet, Jae.” Kriesha said. “And totally unexpected.” She laughed.

“I know, right? Looking this good, you'd expect me to have a whole bunch of ladies showing up at my doorstep.” Jae said, making Kriesha roll her eyes and shake her head in disbelief. “Okay, okay, that was bad.” They both laughed. “Truth is, I wouldn't even care.” He kissed her cheek. “Unless one of them was you.” He whispered. The girl smiled and kissed his lips once again.

“Or Seulgi sunbaenim!” Kriesha made her remark and laughed at the boy, who pretended to be annoyed, but giggled right after. He leaned in, taking his hand to the girl's face and looking into her eyes.

“Seulgi who?” They both smiled as Jae whispered, and Kriesha got close enough to fill the space between their lips, engaging once again in a kiss.

The two completely forgot about the guitars, both now lying on the floor. Almost an hour went by while all they did was kiss and wonder how the hell they found themselves in such a situation: feeling so much for someone who they've known for so little time.

“Hey…” Jae whispered as their lips broke apart. “It's getting late.”

“No, it's not.” Kriesha pulled him closer by his shirt; she didn't want to let him go.

“Maybe I should go.” He insisted.

The girl shook her head.

“I'm holding you hostage.” She said, while wrapping her arms around him. Jae laughed.

“I wouldn't complain.” He gave her a peck on the lips.

“Then it's settled.” She stated. “You're not leaving.”

“I wish I could stay…” He sighed.

“I know.” She replied. “But I understand.” She slowly let him go.

Jae took both of his hands to the girl's face, gently caressing her cheeks with his thumbs.

“Is this really happening?” He thought out loud and they both smiled, staring at each other.

“Yes.” Kriesha replied to the boy's rhetorical question. “Yes, it is.”

Jae leaned in and kissed her one more time.

“Now I really have to go.” He grabbed his phone for the first time in a while to check the time. There were so many unread notifications, but he just ignored them for now.

“I know.” She pouted.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Jae asked, making the girl smile.

“Nothing in the evening.” She replied.

“Then I'll drop by after practice, okay?” He said, kissing her forehead and she nodded. “If it gets too late, I'll let you know.” Jae gently pulled away from the girl and got up from the couch, collecting his guitar and putting it away in its case.

Kriesha just stared at the boy, wrapping her arms around her legs, which were curled up on the couch.

“You're beautiful.” She suddenly said, making Jae chuckle shyly.

“And you're crazy.” The boy shook his head.

“What?” Kriesha got up and stood next to him. “Where did the amazing, confident, I'm-so-handsome boy go?”

“I wish I really was that confident.” Jae half smiled.

“Well…” Kriesha took a few steps towards Jae's direction. “You should be.” She placed her hands on his shoulders. “Jae sunbaenim,” the girl said and they both giggled at the formality, “you're so much more than you think you are.” She smiled at him.

Jae's heart felt peaceful when he heard Kriesha's words. He knew the girl meant what she said, and that made him feel warm, special even. But, if we're being honest, the biggest issue here was not even how Kriesha saw him, but how hard it was for Jae to believe in himself. He knew he had some talent and he knew how hardworking he was. But he also knew how much he lacked. How difficult he made things sometimes ㅡ for himself and others, even if unintentionally. Jae knew that some days he just wished he could stay curled up in bed, wrapped up in his blanket like a burrito and avoid all possible human contact. Deep down (and also not that deep down), Jae was well aware of his flaws and his lacking. And he hoped Kriesha would choose to stay even if she saw them.

“Thank you.” Jae kissed her forehead again. “For everything.”

“Come, I'll walk you out.” Kriesha took Jae's hand and intertwined their fingers, taking him to the door. It was silly, but the girl felt butterflies when they walked together holding hands (even if just for five steps). “I hereby declare Mr. Park Jaehyung free to go. I am no longer keeping you hostage.” She joked and Jae laughed.

“I'll be back to my captivity before you know it.” He took his hand to her waist and leaned in closer, his lips almost touching her ears. “I'll miss you.” He whispered.

Kriesha felt her whole body shiver. At a sudden loss for words, the girl stood on the tip of her toes and cupped Jae's face with her hands, pulling it closer and kissing him one last time before he left.

“I'll miss you too.” She replied after breaking off the kiss. “Now go before I change my mind.” she opened the door for him. “It's late, so please be careful, okay?”

“I will.” Jae said, as he stepped out of the girl's apartment. “See you tomorrow.” He winked, smiling.

 

* * *

 

As he was waiting for the elevator, the two still glanced at each other a couple of times, because Kriesha refused to close the door and go back inside; she wanted to keep looking at him for as long as she could.

As the elevator doors closed in front of him, Jae waved Kriesha goodbye. The boy then took a deep breath, closing his eyes; before he could even notice, Jae was smiling from ear to ear. The thought of Kriesha's face, the memory of her kiss, her touch… It was driving him crazy. And he was loving every second of it.

Even though it was cold and late, Jae decided to walk home, since Kriesha's place wasn't that far. After walking for a while, the boy grabbed his phone to check the notifications. Whoa, 9 missed calls?

 

**_< Messages from Brian>_ **

**_Dude, have you seen this?_ **

**_< Brian shared a link with you>_ **

**_Jae, hyung, where are you?_ **

**_Yo, please reply…_ **

**_Dude what's going on???_ **

  


**_< Messages from OnePeel>_ **

**_Hyung, why don't you pick up?_ **

**_Hyung… It's all over the internet_ **

  


**_< Messages from Dumb Jaimon>_ **

**_Jae, what's going on????_ **

**_Why are people saying these things??? Is it true???_ **

**_Jae???_ **

  


**_< Messages from Sam the Ham>_ **

**_Jae, I just read something_ **

**_And I'm not sure what's going on_ **

**_But are you okay?_ **

  


**_< Message from Dowoon>_ **

**_Hyung… I think you should come home…_ **

  


**_< Messages from Bob> _ **

**_??????????_ **

**_????_ **

**_?_ **

  


**_< Messages from Kevin>_ **

**_Jae, are you okay?_ **

**_Please answer me…_ **

**_I'm here if you need anything._ **

  


Jae's heart stopped. He had no idea what was going on. Why was everyone so worried? He was fine. Actually, he was so much better than fine. He was so happy. What the hell happened?! Jae opened Brian's messages. He had sent a link. “Have you seen this?” he asked. No, he hadn't. He  froze for a few seconds, stopping in the middle of the street and not being able to breathe. The boy feared what he was about to see, but there wasn't much of a choice.

So he opened the link.

 

**_DAY6's Park Jaehyung and soloist Kriesha Chu supposedly engaged in romance_ **

_The two were spotted this afternoon by a couple of fans who shared their videos online._

_Though the original posters have said they were merely acting friendly, Netizens are sure the video shows the couple holding hands (see below)._

_This last Tuesday, Kriesha Chu appeared as a guest on “After School Club”, a show for International K-Pop fans, on which Jae works as an MC. Fans said they noticed the chemistry between the pair throughout the episode, causing some to speculate whether or not Jae and Kriesha have already been dating for a while._

_It is not the first time this happens in DAY6. Back in 2016, member Junhyeok left the group due to dating rumors._

_What do you think will happen this time?_

 

“Don't read the comment section.” Jae thought to himself. “Don't do it.”

Well, he did it.

 

 **_@jaespil:_ ** _they're really holding hands… i can't believe it_

 **_@jamhyunk:_ ** _is this a joke? haven't they learned their lesson? lol I hope jyp fires his ass as well we going ot4_

 **_@straiysix:_ ** _omg!!!!! lord please let this be true!!!!_

 **_@frecklesdotcom:_ ** _day6 r so busy preparing for the comeback I'm sure jae is skipping practice kkkk_

 **_@heartsforkchu:_ ** _i ship it_

 ** _@buttel_:_** _dude kkk_ _i'm pretty sure they’ve been dating for a whole while lol well done jae wtf_

 **_@uttdaysix:_ ** _guys relax it's jae I doubt it they're dating…_

 **_@day6jams:_ ** _Jae is being so irresponsible, he's probably ditching schedule to be with her… smart money says jyp will get rid of him pretty soon_

 **_@cafesday6:_ ** _it's so obvious they have been dating for a long time… I saw it on the episode, they were just pretending not to know each other, I can't believe jae did that to us_

 

No.

No, this isn't happening.

Jae shook his head.

He read the headline again.

No, it's a dream. A nightmare.

Someone, quick, wake him up!

No.

 

Jae could not put into words what he was feeling at that moment. His chest was heavy, as if there was something pressing hard against it; his hands were shaking so much he was afraid of dropping his phone; his legs were weak, making him feel like he could just fall to the ground at any given moment.

He had absolutely no clue what to do next.

So he gathered up every ounce of strength still left in his body and walked.

He switched his phone to airplane mode and put it away in his pocket.

Focus.

All he needed to do was to get home.

When he finally did, everything felt like a bit of a blur. He didn't quite understand how he had gotten there, it seemed as if he turned on “Auto Mode” and just made his way home.

“Hyung! Are you okay?” He heard Wonpil's voice break the silence, as the boy took a few steps closer to him. “Have you seen–” Wonpil turned on the lights and took a good look at Jae's face. “I guess you have.”

Jae hated crying in front of people. Not because he thought it made his face look weird or because it made him seem weak, but because he never wanted people to see how much he was actually hurting. He didn't want people he cared about to worry about him, he didn't want to give them that kind of burden.

But at that moment, desperate as he was and seeing the look on Wonpil's face, Jae couldn't hold it back anymore. He took off his guitar from off his back, placed it carefully next to the wall and still tried to pretend like he was fine.

“Hyung…” Wonpil insisted.

“I'm fine.” Jae could barely get the words out.

“You're home.” Sungjin said, coming out of Jae's room with Brian and Dowoon. I guess they must have been talking about the situation.

Jae nodded, making his way to the bathroom. All four of them just stood there, not knowing exactly what to do or say. Jae closed the door behind him and instantly broke down, as silently as possible.

He took his phone from his pocket and turned off airplane mode. Messages started popping again, but Jae didn't even have the strength to look.

“This can't be happening again.” The boy heard Sungjin's voice.

“Hyung, please, keep it down.” Brian politely asked his leader. “Besides… things are different now, we don't know what will happen. We just need to hear from Jae what's actually going on and then we can talk to the company and know the next step.”

“And what if they're really dating?” Dowoon asked. “What then?”

“Then we'll come clean.” Sungjin said. “What else could we do?”

“Lie?” Wonpil suggested.

Brian shook his head. “We can't ask him to do that.”

“Of course not.” Sungjin agreed.

“Hyung…” Dowoon looked at Brian. “I'm scared.” He confessed.

They heard the bathroom door open.

“Guys…” A puffy-eyed, red-nosed Jae weakly said. “I…” He paused. “I think we should talk.”

He made his way to the couch and sat down, hoping the boys would follow him and do the same, which they did.

“Is it true?” Wonpil bluntly asked.

“Let him speak, Pillie.” Brian requested.

“Yes.” They all looked shaken. “And no.”

“Um… what?” Sungjin was lost.

“We haven't been secretly dating.” Jae shook his head and rolled his eyes. Can you believe the things people will say? “Truth is… Ever since I met Kriesha…” He sniffed. “Ever since I saw how silly and playful she was during that episode…” Jae shared a bittersweet smile. “I don't know what happened, but I couldn't get her off my head.” He explained. “This had never happened to me before, not like that.” The boy looked at his friends, who were waiting for the rest of the story.

“So Jae hyung and Kriesha went out today?” Dowoon asked, since the boy didn't say anything else.

Jae nodded.

“We went out on Tuesday night, too.” He confessed.

“Oh, that ‘off-schedule ASC meeting’?” Sungjin sounded a little mad.

“Yeah… but it wasn't a date. Kevin and Jimin went, too. It was just dinner with friends.” Jae explained. “But after that… we started texting.” He continued. “And during dinner it had come up the possibility of me teaching her to play guitar… so that's why I left so early today.”

“Hyung… but you were holding hands and walking outside…” Brian stated and Jae stared at him, angry.

“No!” The tall boy denied. “What?!” He was so mad his friend believed what he read. “We were not holding hands, dude!” He exclaimed. “We just went out for coffee and then took a walk around the neighborhood, but nothing evenpl happened!” He was practically shouting now.

“Okay, okay.” Sungjin said. “Let's all calm down for a bit.” He rested his hand on his friend's chest. “Jae… And after that? What happened? Because you disappeared for a while.”

“Dude… I went to her place for the guitar thing.” He let go of his weight on the couch. “But then we…” He sighed. “She sang me a song, man.” He half-smiled, thinking of Kriesha. “Actually, she wrote the lyrics for that as well… She sort of _wrote me a song_.” He was fully smiling now, his heart still bittersweet.

“So she likes you too, hyung.” Wonpil also smiled, genuinely. He loved seeing Jae happy.

Jae nodded.

“Yeah. We ended up kissing.” He sighed. Jae felt his phone vibrating.

 

**_< Message from Kriesha> _ **

**_Jae sunbaenim…_ **

**_I'm so sorry…_ **

**_I don't know what's going on._ **

**_I'm sorry._ **

 

Jae realized he had tears rolling down his cheeks and immediately wiped them away.

“Is it her?” Brian asked.

“Yeah…” He showed them the messages. “Guys…” He looked at his friends. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Kriesha and Jae said goodbye, the girl went  back in her apartment and looked for her phone. She wanted to – nope, she needed to – text Minjoo. Oh, God, 5 missed calls from her friend. How could she be so extra? Kriesha giggled and rolled her eyes, but called her Minmin back right away.

“Unnie!!!” Minjoo answered the phone. “Finally!!!”

“Calm down, Minmin. I was just gonna call you to fill you in wh—”

“You haven't seen it yet, have you?” She interrupted her friend.

“What? Seen what?” Kriesha furrowed her eyebrows.

“Unnie….” Minjoo paused.

“Minjoo  what's going on?” Kriesha asked, nervously.

“I'll send you a link.” The other girl replied.

“Okay…” Kriesha hesitated. “I'll put you on speaker and open it.”

 

**_< Minmin ♡ sent you a link>_ **

 

**_DAY6's Park Jaehyung and soloist Kriesha Chu supposedly engaged in romance_ **

 

“What?!” Kriesha exclaimed. “Holding hands?! We were just walking!”

“Unnie…”

“No! This is not fair!” The girl said, loudly. “Look at everything they're saying about him!”

“I know.” Minjoo lowered her voice.

“They want him kicked out of the band?! This can't be happening.” Kriesha's heart felt like it would pop out of her chest from beating so fast. She stayed silent for a while and then Minjoo heard her sniffing.

“Unnie, do you want me to come over?”

“No…” Kriesha replied. “I think I just need to be alone right now, Minmin.”

“Okay, but if you need anyth—”

“I should go.” Kriesha hung up the phone before her crying got worse.

After letting it out for a few seconds, she took her phone again to read some more. She realized she had gotten texts from so many of her friends and decide to check them out first.

 

**_< Message from Ruby>_ **

 

**_Hey, I just read something… are you and Jae from DAY6 dating?_ **

**_Nice!_ **

  


**_< Message from Hui sunbaenim>_ **

 

**_Kriesha!!_ **

**_Are you okay? I just saw people are saying some stupid things…_ **

**_I hope everything's alright!_ **

  


**_< Message from Coco>_ **

 

**_Girl… what's going on?_ **

**_Are you really seeing Jae? LOL_ **

**_Always thought I'd be the one to snatch him_ ** **🤪**

  


**_< Message from Soominnie>_ **

 

**_Unnie!!!_ **

**_I know we haven't talked in a while, but I just read some things_ **

**_and anyway I just wanna know if you're okay_ **

**_please let me know if you need anything!!_ **

**_I miss you_ **

 

Okay so… she pondered on whether she should reply them now or leave it for later, but she decided it would be best to just get over with it. She told everyone she was fine and thanked them for worrying about her, but this wasn't a great time to talk. Everybody was understanding and supportive, except one.

 

**_< Message from Coco>_ **

 

**_Ok, but you didn't answer me_ **

**_Are you seeing him? LOL_ **

**_He's a handful yk_ **

**_Good luck lol_ **

 

Kriesha never really liked Coco. She would pretend to be friends with everyone and then sure enough she'd be saying bad things about you behind your back. It happened with so many people she knew, she figured it was just the girl's way of enjoying herself. But that didn't really do Kriesha any good.

She knew Coco had a massive crush on Jae when they were younger – she confessed it once upon a drunken time –, but Jae never gave her the time of day. Obviously she was pressed about these news. Kriesha rolled her eyes at the girl's message, but replied either way.

 

**_You: It's not like what they're saying,  we were literally just walking._ **

**_You: As if I'd be able to be in a secret relationship…_ **

**_You: This whole thing is so dumb._ **

 

**_Coco: LOLLL ok I knew you didn't snatch him_ **

**_Coco: I think Jae might be gay_ **

**_Coco: Or just plain stupid lol_ **

**_Coco: I dropped so many hints and he never noticed_ **

 

**_You: Maybe he's just not interested in you, unnie…_ **

 

**_Coco: Then he's just plain stupid_ **

 

**_You: …_ **

 

**_Coco: Kidding! Jesus…_ **

 

God, that girl was annoying.

 

**_You: I should go now._ **

**_You: Apparently I have a lot to deal with._ **

 

**_Coco: Go explain to everyone there's nothing between you two_ **

**_Coco: People who believed that are so dimwitted_ **

**_Coco: LOL_ **

 

Kriesha rolled her eyes and sat on the couch, letting go of her weight.

Dude, Jae.

She needed to text Jae.

 

**_You: Jae sunbaenim…_ **

**_You: I'm so sorry…_ **

**_You: I don't know what's going on._ **

**_You: I'm sorry._ **

 

She waited for a while, but there was no response.

 

**_You: Jae?_ **

 

Maybe she should take a shower.

 

**_You: Hey, I'm here for you._ **

 

Now she should probably eat something.

 

**_You: If you still want me._ **

**_You: To be here for you._ **

 

No matter what she tried, the girl simply couldn't get this matter of her mind. How could a perfect afternoon so suddenly turn into this chaos?

Kriesha gave up on eating and decided to just go to bed instead. She was sure it was going to be a long night. Before she put her phone away, she checked one last time to see if there was any response from Jae. None.

She texted him again.

 

**_You: Good night._ **

**_You: See you tomorrow?_ **

 

* * *

 

 

After a long conversation with his friends, Jae decided maybe it was best to not reply to anyone's texts right now. Not even Kriesha's. The boy took a long, hot shower to try to relax, but it seemed like it only made him more tense.

Jae turned off his mobile phone and lied down on his bed. He wished he had something to help him fall asleep and not wake up until everything's back to normal again.

He turned around to face the wall.

The boy was so scared of what could happen to him (and Kriesha) from now on. Flashbacks from two years ago were never so vivid in his mind. No, this can't happen to him. He won't be responsible of putting his bandmates through all of that again. How could he be so stupid and do such a thing?

He turned around again, facing the other way.

He was so scared of what everyone at the company would say… what they would do. Their manager would be so disappointed in him, that's for sure. Jae knows well enough what went down last time, but he refuses to walk that path. No, not again. Whenever this thought crossed his mind, he quickly realized there was nothing he could do. He would be forced to accept whatever decision the company made for him.

He turned to face the ceiling.

Would he have to choose?

He would undoubtedly choose DAY6. Over anything and anyone, always.

But at what cost?

“Hyung,” he heard Brian's voice. “Can't sleep?”

“How could I?” Jae responded “Dude, what do you think will happen?”

“I have no clue.” Brian honestly answered. “Did they call or message you?”

“I don't know.” The older one shrugged. “My phone's been on airplane mode for the majority of time.”

“Ah…” His friend didn't know what to say.

“We'll be okay…” Jae paused. “Right?”

“Of course.” Brian wasn't convincing at all.

A while later, Jae finally fell asleep.

When they all woke up the next morning, the air was different than usual; heavy. Jae had never felt so guilty about anything in his life. Nothing ever felt more of a responsibility to him than DAY6, and that's why he always did his best to honor the relationship they had and all they had accomplished so far. So, yeah, Jae was feeling guilty for causing this much trouble. The other boys knew it wasn't his fault, so they tried to cheer him up, unsuccessfully.

Early in the morning, Sungjin got a call from their manager cancelling today's practice. Manager Lee didn't tell them why, but they knew. Shortly after he requested to speak to Jae, whose phone was still off. It wasn't a long conversation, from the boys’ point of view it was just a lot of “Hm-hmm”, “yes”, “I understand”. They were all anxious to know what was going on.

“They want to see me this afternoon.” Jae said, handing the phone back to Sungjin. “It's… expected.” The other four nodded.

“It'll be fine, Jaehyungssi.” Sungjin affirmed.

“Will it?” Jae automatically replied and the boys remained silent. Not just because it was rhetorical.

Jae still didn't have the nerve to check his phone all morning. During breakfast, he barely ate, which was unusual. The boy couldn't get that out of his head, no matter how hard he tried. The thought just remained there, loud and clear, ruminating in the back of his mind. He finally decided to play some video game and try to relax.

Update: it didn't work.

A few hours later and still not knowing what to do, Jae grabbed his phone and turned it on. He waited for a few seconds till it fully opened and then the messages just kept popping up. God, how was he supposed to answer all those people now?

One step at a time.

Breathe.

Okay, let's start with the one who sent the most texts: Jimin.

 

**_You: Yo, Jim_ **

**_You: I'm okay_ **

 

**_Dumb Jaimon: You're full of shit_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: That's what you are_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: I know you're not okay_ **

 

**_You: Yeah, well_ **

**_You: I'll explain later, ok?_ **

 

**_Dumb Jaimon: Look, Jae, you didn't reply last night and I was worried… people were saying things about you that I knew wasn't true_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: Or things that even if they were true, were none of their goddamn business_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: So I texted Brian oppa_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: He filled me in_ **

 

**_You: Oh_ **

 

**_Dumb Jaimon: Yeah_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: I'm sorry_ **

 

**_You: It's fine_ **

**_You: I'm sorry I didn't tell you_ **

 

**_Dumb Jaimon: Dude, stop_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: You don't need to tell me anything if you're not ready_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: I'm not upset_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: I'm just worried_ **

 

Jae felt really good reading those texts. He would make fun of that girl for the slightest of reasons until the end of time; but he would also go to the ends of the Earth if that's what it took for him to be as good of a friend to her as she was, as she had always been, to him.

 

**_You: Yeah, I know_ **

**_You: Thank you for that_ **

 

**_Dumb Jaimon: Did they call you?_ **

**_Dumb Jaimon: Of course they did_ **

 

**_You: They called me in this afternoon_ **

**_You: I'll be fine_ **

 

**_Dumb Jaimon: And I'll be here_ **

 

Jae was ready to move on to the next person.

 

**_Dumb Jaimon: I love ugly_ **

 

Jae smiled for the first time that day. Jimin and Jae have been close for a long while now, but neither of them were that great when it came to expressing their feelings towards each other. They knew how the other felt, so why say anything anyways?

But one day before they went live on ASC (only a few weeks since Jae started MCing), Jimin was feeling really bad about her looks, from head to toe. Her hair had a weird color on it and was too dry, her outfit felt more of a potato sack than a dress, and her shoes were not matching at all. He remembers how stressed out she was that the staff wouldn't let her dress differently because the MCs had to have a pattern, so Jae “accidentally” spilled iced coffee all over her, which she pretended to be really upset about, but was overflowing with content.

After she changed clothes and felt a bit more like herself, she looked for Jae.

“What did you do that for?” Jimin asked.

“Well… You're about to host a TV show, and you're my partner so I didn't want you to screw up because you felt uncomfortable.” Jae replied.

The girl rolled her eyes and elbowed him. “Jae…” She tried one more time.

“And also… because I didn't like seeing you miserable like that.” He admitted.

“Oh… so he cares!” Jimin joked.

“Shut up, you know I do. I love—” Jae stopped in the middle of the sentence because he suddenly realize he had never said that to her. In fact, it had been a while since he said that to anyone. “Ugly.” Jae completed. “I love ugly.” He repeated, looking at the hoodie he had bought at that store, that had the sentence on it.

He had no idea why he had panicked like that or why it was so hard for him to say “I love you” to her, but all Jimin did was laugh. She cracked up at the fact that the boy freaked out mid sentence, but she replied.

“I love ugly too, dumbass.”

And ever since then, that became their thing. So, yeah, Jae smiled.

 

**_You: I love ugly too_ **

**_You: :)_ **

 

After a while of reassuring people he was okay when he so clearly wasn't (even his parents had seen it and called to check on him), Jae felt exhausted. He wished he could just go back to bed and sleep it off, like he would wake up later and everything would be back to normal. But, well, he knew that wasn't going to happen. So he took a deep breath and checked the time on his phone.

That's when he saw the notification.

 

**_< Message from Kriesha>_ **

 

**_Hey… I haven't heard from you since last night and I'm worried. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this mess. I wish there was something I could do to help, but I guess it would just end up making things worse. Again, I'm sorry. I hope today's better than yesterday._ **

 

“It won't be,” he thought to himself. Jae still hadn't opened the chat room with Kriesha, because he didn't want her to think he'd read those messages and still chosen to ignore them, which wasn't the case at all. He just couldn't deal with that right now. He didn't even know what he would be able to say to her, given his current state of mind. So, yeah, maybe it was best to just hold on for a little longer before replying.

Jae put his phone aside and started to get dressed for the meeting he was called to. No matter what he did, he could only think of one thing: would he have to stop seeing her? Yeah, probably. And he would, if it had to come to that. But he really wish it didn't. You see, there was something unusual, something peculiar about the connection they had. Maybe it was all in his head and he was just being a dramatic boy with a crush, but truth is he felt different when he was with her – and not because beside her he felt like a new Jae. But because when he was around her, he felt the most like himself. And it was so refreshing.

“Yo, I'm leaving.” He said audibly in the living room as he opened the front door so that everyone would hear him.

“Bye, hyung.” Wonpil promptly showed up. “Let us know if you need anything.”

“Do you want us to come along?” Sungjin suggested, followed by the other boys.

“I think this is something I have to face by myself.” Jae stated and the others silently agreed.

“Hyung, please don't keep your phone off.” Dowoon requested. “Or we'll be worried.”

“And also we might need you to pick up some lamyeon on your way home.” Brian said, trying to lighten up the air and actually managing to get a few giggles.

“You got it.” The boy said, closing the só os behind him.

As Jae was walking towards the subway station, he began to wonder all sorts of things. He thought of his days back in LA, how planned out everything used to be for him and how, in a blink of an eye, everything seemed to turn upside down. He quit school. He moved to Korea – without even speaking the language very well. He landed lands contract to be a trainee in one of the biggest entertainment industries in the country.  And he was happy. Each step, every bit of it felt like a huge accomplishment in his life.

However, as strange as it might sound, Jae found himself wondering… What would his life be like right now if he hadn't dropped out of college and moved to Korea? What would he be doing? He would've certainly graduated by now, right? Would he have a job? Would he _like_ that job? Would he be seeing someone? Would it be serious? Would this life be satisfying for him? Would he be… happy?

Truth is, there is absolutely no way of knowing. But if he was going to be completely honest, he wouldn't trade the life he had right now for anything else. Despite the hardships, despite the headaches, the endless hours of practice, all the controversies… Jae had never been happier. Besides the family he was born into, he found himself a new one. Not just the boys in DAY6, who were his utmost family in Korea, but also his other friends. Jimin, Sam, Matt, Kevin… All of his label mates. It's pretty accurate when they call it “JYP Family”, because that's exactly how it feels to him.

“Sir, you dropped this.” Jae heard a voice behind him.

“Oh.” He replied. “Thank you.” He didn't even realize he was missing his T-money card.

“You're Jae… from DAY6.” The girl looked like she'd seen a ghost.

Jae nodded and smiled, but continued to walk. He was scared she was mention any of the mess that had been going on since the previous night.

“Hey, wait.” The girl said and he turned around. “I'm…” She paused and he furrowed his eyebrows. “I'm Minjoo.” She said.

“I'm sorry, I don't… do we know each other?” Jae sounded confused.

“What?! She's never mentioned me?!” The girl said in shock, but immediately shook her head, admitting that moment was not about her. “Anyway… I'm Kriesha's best friend.” She introduced herself.

“Oh.” That's it. That's all he could say.

“Um… she's worried.” She said. “I probably shouldn't even be telling you this, but it's true. She barely slept last night. I'm going over right now to see her.”

Jae still didn't say a word. He couldn't.

“You should keep your promise.” Minjoo continued. “She said you'd come by later today. She says she's okay if you don't come, she'll understand. But I'm pretty sure she'll be expecting you.”

Jae felt his eyes brimming with tears and clenched his fist, making the most effort not to cry in front of a complete stranger.

“Just… please don't hurt her.” Minjoo finished. “Excuse me.” The girl bowed politely and walked away.

Right then and there, Jae felt like a little piece of his heart had been taken out of his chest. He already felt bad just knowing Kriesha wasn't doing very well, but the fact that he was actually the reason why, made Jae feel even worse. The worst part is there was absolutely nothing he could do. He wished he could just go and run to her place right now, he wished he could reassure her that everything would be okay for them, but he was actually in need of that reassurance for himself as well.

The boy made his way to the subway train, having no trouble finding a spot to sit down, since it wasn't exactly rush hour. He laid his head back and closed his eyes.

What the hell should he say?

Lost in his own thoughts, Jae almost missed his stop. But he quickly got up and left before the train closed its doors. Each step he took towards his destination felt heavier, harder to take. As soon as he saw the JYP building, he felt the immediate urge to just turn around and leave, but he knew that it wouldn't do any good. He knew he needed to do that.

“Hello.” Jae politely greeted the workers with a smile as soon as he entered the building.

“Park Jaehyung-ssi.” He heard one of the girls say. “Manager Lee is waiting for you in band practice room B. He said you should talk to him first.” She bowed politely and walked away.

“Thank you.” He replied, pretty sure the girl wasn't even listening to him anymore.

Jae made his way up to the room, a little relieved he was meeting his manager first. At least it was one person. And manager-nim has always been understanding.

“Jae-ssi.” The man said upon Jae's arrival.

“Manager-nim.” The boy bowed respectfully and shook hands with his manager.

“It's been a crazy day, huh?” Jae agreed. “Out of all five of you, I never thought you'd be the one giving me a headache.” He said, jokingly, but Jae couldn't even fake a smile. “What happened, kid?”

“Nothing?” Jae replied in a questioning tone, since he was so unsure. “I still don't understand what's going on.” He was being honest. “Kriesha and I met on ASC, then later that day we went out with Jimin and Kevin to get some food and then it came up the possibility of me teaching her how to play guitar.” He stopped and looked at his manager. “I was just helping her, man.”

“But you two were seen and recorded holding hands.” Manager Lee pointed out.

“No,” Jae clenched his fist and closed his eyes. He was so annoyed that everyone seemed to just jump to conclusions. “we weren't holding hands.” He explained. “We were just walking, we went for some iced coffee and then headed to her place.”

“Wait.” The man widened his eyes. “You… you went to _her place_?”

Jae nodded, looking at his manager, confused.

“Did anyone see you?” He asked, but Jae didn't react for a while, his heart rate suddenly going up. “Jae-ssi!” The manager raised his voice. “Did anyone see you going in or leaving Kriesha's place?”

Jae shook his head. “No.” He replied. “I don't think so.”

“You _don't think so_?” The man was officially angry. “Do you understand this is the kind of thing that could ruin your entire career??”

“Manager-nim, I… I'm sorry, I didn't think it was a big deal.” Jae confessed, stuttering a little to get the words out.

“No, son, you just didn't think.” Manager Lee said, clearly disappointed. “So she wants to learn how to play guitar? She should ask for lessons from her own damn company!” The man was at his limit. “And even if you help her with it… Rent a studio, take other people, _don't_ be alone with her in her fucking apartment.” The man shook his head in disbelief. “I'm sorry.” He realized he was being a bit harsh. “Look… was that it? Did anything else happen?”

“No!” Jae denied instantly, lying before he could think about it.

“Jae-ssi, listen to me.” The boy looked at him. “Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna talk to everyone together, okay? I'll go with you. I can tell them you ran it by me first.”

“I don't want you to get in trouble for me.” Jae replied.

“Jae-ssi, I'm supposed to know things like that. It'll look worse for me if I tell them I didn't know.” He explained to Jae and the boy agreed.

“Will PDnim also be there?” Jae felt his stomach acting funny.

“Of course he will.” The manager replied. “But I think you should be more worried about Jungwook CEOnim.” Jae gulped. “So… let's go?”

“Let's get it.” Jae said, half replying to his manager, half trying to encourage himself.

They were all waiting for Jae in the small conference room. As soon as he entered, the tall boy saw Park Jinyoung himself accompanied by the company's current CEO (who, by the way, did not look pleased at all) and a few members of the PR team that Jae only assumed were there to see how this case could be best handled to the media.

“Jae-ssi.” The first one who spoke was JYP. “Manager-nim.” The man greeted both of them.

“PDnim.” Jae bowed politely. “CEOnim. Everyone.” He did the same for the others in the room and took a seat.

“So… we can get started now.” CEO Jungwook stated. “As you're all very aware, Park Jaehyung-ssi, from DAY6, has been involved in some controversy since last night.” Controversy? That's not exactly what he'd call it. “He was seen walking beside idol Kriesha Chu, some said they were even holding hands.” Okay, at least he didn't say it like it was a given fact. “Park Jaehyung-ssi, now we want to hear it from you. What exactly happened?”

Jae told them the same thing he had told Manager Lee a few minutes earlier and the man confirmed everything, saying he had been informed of Jae's actions previously.

“This is unbelievable. Can't her own company provide guitar lessons for her?” CEOnim rolled his eyes. “And then?” He asked.

“And then I went home. I helped her with one of the new songs from her latest single album and then I went home.” Jae looked down. “When I left her apartment everything was already chaotic online.”

“Did the two of you engage in any romantic or sexual activities?” Mr. Jungwook was pretty forward and Jae was taken aback.

“No.” He answered. “We're just friends.” Jae felt bad for lying, but he really didn't see any other options at that moment. He felt cornered. And he wasn't just thinking about covering his ass when he said that, but the boys’ too. He didn't know what could happen to the band if he told them what had actually happened.

“Write this down.” The CEO turned to one of the women from the PR team who was already typing everything that was being said in that room.

“Jae-ssi.” Park Jinyoung turned to him. “We don't want you to think you can't have a normal life and date who you wanna date.”

“But you wouldn't.” The CEO completed. “You know your fans. You know your past. Do you really want to follow that example?”

“Jungwook CEOnim has a solid point.” JYP continued. “But you know you're not forbidden to do those things, right?” He wasn't very convincing. “All we want is for you to think very carefully about your actions, because you're a public figure. So your life can't be like it was before. Your actions won't have consequences only on yourself, but also on every one who loves and respects you.”

“I know.” Jae nodded. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”

“But it did, didn't it?” Park Jinyoung responded. “And that's why you should be much more careful with the image of yourself that you let people see.” If Jae didn't know any better, he might think JYP was implying he should just hide things like that. And maybe that's exactly what he wanted to say.

“Park Jaehyung-ssi, in a few minutes we'll release a clarification note about all this on JYPE's and DAY6's official accounts.” The CEO said. “Somin-ssi from the Public Relations department will have her team work out a better way of explaining what happened. They will also write your apology letter.” He finished, closing the folder in front of him.

“Apology?” Jae didn't even realize he had to apologize to anyone. “Umm…” He noticed all heads turned to him. “I mean, shouldn't I write my own apology?” The CEO and Somin-from-the-PR-department giggled sarcastically, but neither gave Jae an answer.

Everyone packed up their things and left, including Manager Lee. But Jae stayed sitting there, unwilling to take the next step and, honestly, too frightened to. What the hell were they going to write on that apology letter?

“Jae-ssi.” Jae heard PDnim's voice. “You should've known better.” He sounded disappointed. “I know it's not easy. No one ever said it was going to be easy. Suddenly your life turns upside down and nothing is as it was anymore. But the second you agree to be part of this family is the second I fully expect you to follow our rules and recommendations.” He ended, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Jae opened his mouth intending to say something, but couldn't get the words out. It doesn't matter anyway, PDnim was long gone by now.

He picked up his phone.

 

**_< Message from Kriesha>_ **

**_Hey… I know you probably won't be able to make it tonight. It's okay. We'll have plenty of time. You should get some rest._ **

 

In all honesty, Jae wanted to run to Kriesha's place. He felt so comfortable around that girl that all he wanted was to have that feeling again – that everything was alright. That there was absolutely nothing to worry about.

However, reality couldn't be farther from that. There were a lot of things that Jae could barely fathom; some things just seemed a little too absurd to him. I mean, why couldn't he write his own damn apology?! Even if he had to run it by the CEO himself first. It made no sense. Why did things have to be this way? Why couldn't people understand that k-idols are supposed to have their own lives too?

Jae closed his eyes for a little while, unsuccessfully trying to clear his mind.

 

**_< Message from Manager Lee>_ **

**_The clarification note is out._ **

**_Post this apology letter on your Twitter account._ **

 

**_< Manager Lee sent a link.>_ **

 

Wow, Jungwook CEOnim wasn't kidding when he said a few minutes.

Jae went and checked the note first.

  


**_Clarification note regarding DAY6's Jae controversy_ **

 

_Hello, this is JYPE._

_DAY6 member Park Jaehyung was seen yesterday afternoon walking alongside idol Kriesha Chu, and since then have been target of fans’ speculations regarding the matter._

_We are here in order to clarify that Jae and Kriesha are_ _not_ _romantically involved nor have they ever been. They only recently met and became friendly with each other._

_We are sorry for the misunderstanding and we are sorry if any of you felt offended by our artist's behavior. However, we assure you one more time that Jae is completely focused on work and doing his absolute best for all of you who support him and DAY6._

_We hope to have ended all sorts of doubts and speculations that might have come up._

_Thank you,_

_JYPE._

  


Jae sighed as he finished reading the company's statement. None of that sounded fair in his head. The lying (which was completely on him), the fact that the company felt the need to apologize on his behalf, the fact that the fans actually felt they needed to be apologized to. As much as Jae tried and respected this idol culture he was now a part of, there were just some things he still couldn't understand.

Now it was time to read “his” letter of apology.

 

_Hello, this is Jae from DAY6. Although there is no excuse for my actions, I’m leaving these words here to sincerely apologize for the disappointment I’ve caused you._

 

Um… what? There’s no excuse for my actions? _What_ actions?

 

_I'm writing this letter in hopes that I can apologize for my mistake and clear out all possible misunderstandings regarding my relationship with singer Kriesha Chu.  I met Kriesha while hosting ASC this last Tuesday and she expressed her desire to learn how to play guitar. As I play the instrument, I offered to help, even though I should have advised her to seek for help from her company on that matter. Our relationship has been purely professional and we are not romantically involved in any way._

 

Oh… God…

 

_However, I wholeheartedly apologize for my lack of consideration to whoever might have felt hurt or betrayed by my behavior. I want to reassure you that I am working hard to be someone you can look up to and trust to do my best for you and for DAY6, always._

 

Did this apology even sound like him? Well, sure, he could've written that, but is that how he really feels?

Jae closed his eyes and laid back on his chair. He truly wished he could disappear.

 

**_< Message from Manager Lee>_ **

 

**_Post the letter, Jae-ssi…_ **

**_You have to._ **

 

Jae knew his manager was right. He had to. That's what would be best for the company and for DAY6's reputation. Jae worried so much about the burden he was being for those other four boys that he decided he really should post the letter once and for all.

And so he did.

Smart enough not to read any comments regarding this situation, Jae turned off his cellphone again and made his way back home.

Except he couldn't really go home.

 

* * *

 

Kriesha barely got any sleep. How could she? Every time she got close to falling asleep, she started having really weird, unsettling dreams. Everything was falling apart, from her mind to her heart. The girl didn't know what to do – or worse, there was  _ nothing _ she could do. 

The next day, early in the morning, Kriesha had to attend a music show pre-recording. She would be lying if she said she wasn't scared of what the audience's reaction would be, but she was getting ready to go anyway. That's when the girl got a call from her manager, letting her know he had canceled all of her schedules for today, since he was also worried about how the fans would handle it. 

He asked her about everything that happened and then Kriesha realized she had been so worried about Jae that she didn't even notice that her company hadn't reached out to her yet. She explained what happened, saying they were just walking together and not holding hands when that video was recorded, but her manager didn't ask for any other detail. Since literally all the drama seemed to fall on Jae's side, Urban Works didn't see a reason to make a statement; it would just be better to let things cool off a little. If anything, according to the company's PR, this even helped with Kriesha's publicity – there was no one attacking her or saying bad things about her, there were even a couple of fans who “shipped” them together. 

“You got lucky, kid.” Her manager said. “This is the kind of thing that could've ruined your career shortly after it began.”

“Yeah…” she sighed. “I know.”

After they hung up, Kriesha zombied all morning. She barely ate, she barely ever left the bed, all she did was breathe. And text Minjoo.

 

**_You: Minjooya… I feel sick_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Unnie… all of this is really messed up, it shouldn't be happening_ **

**_Minmin ♡: I'm sorry_ **

 

**_You: I know_ **

**_You: I couldn't sleep last night ‘cause I keep thinking about him… I’m scared he might get into trouble and it'll all be my fault._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Don't be delusional, unnie, none of this is your fault_ **

**_Minmin ♡: And I'm sure Jae doesn't feel that way either_ **

 

**_You: Why did this have to happen?_ **

**_You: I mean... It's been so long since I felt this way about anyone._ **

**_You: If ever…_ **

**_You: And now this…_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Life's unfair, unnie_ **

 

**_You: When he was here yesterday it all felt like a fairytale, Minmin. You know those silly romantic dramas that you watch on a rainy day while drinking a cup of hot chocolate and it fills your whole heart with pure joy when the guy and the girl finally get together in the end?_ **

**_You: That's how I felt like… with him._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Unnie, if I didn't know you any better, I'd say you're in love_ **

 

What? Minjoo was crazy.

 

**_You: Now you're the one being delusional, Minjooya. We literally just met three days ago. I don't know anything about him, how could I be in love?_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Unnie, the last thing love is, is rational_ **

**_Minmin ♡: So don't try to explain it with your logic_ **

 

**_You: I hate you._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: You love me_ **

**_Minmin ♡: And you love Jae_ **

 

**_You: Well, even if that's true (which it isn't), it doesn't really matter now, does it? I don't think we can be together anymore._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: And why not??_ **

 

**_You: Did you read what people are saying about him??_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: I did, yes_ **

**_Minmin ♡: People are upset because they felt betrayed_ **

**_Minmin ♡: I don't even know why, because it's seriously none of their goddamn business, but don't you think it'll get better if you come clean and tell everyone you're just now starting to see each other?_ **

 

Sometimes Kriesha wasn't sure if Minjoo was that positive about the world or if she was just incredibly naive. She wished really hard for her friend to be right, but deep down she knew it was never going to happen. 

 

**_You: Minmin, sometimes I wish I could see the world through your eyes._ **

**_You: :(_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Hey, I know you said you needed some space last night, but do you want me to come over today?_ **

 

**_You: Maybe it'd be good. Being with you always cheers me up._ **

**_You: Jae said he'd come by later today but he hasn't even texted me back since last night :(_ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: He's probably busy today, right? You said they had practice today all day…_ **

 

**_You: Yeah… Idk._ **

 

**_Minmin ♡: Look, I'll see you in a couple of minutes, okay? I came by the training center today and I'm leaving now_ **

**_Minmin ♡: I'll take the subway and I should be there in about 15 minutes_ **

 

**_You: Okay, Minmin._ **

**_You: Thank you._ **

 

Unwilling to do anything else, Kriesha lied on her couch and closed her eyes again, since she was all sorts of tired. She figured, if she fell asleep, Minjoo had the keys to her place. Feeling a little more comforted and a bit calmer, Kriesha let herself rest. By the time she woke up, Minjoo was already there. 

“Unnie!” Her friend said with a smile. “You're up! I'm sorry, I got here and you were asleep, I figured you should get some rest, so I tried to be quiet.”

“Hey… It's okay.” Kriesha said. “God, I have the worst headache.” She tried sitting up. “Have you been here long?” 

“Actually, a little. Around 40 minutes.” 

“40 minutes?!” The girl was surprised. “God, I'm so sorry!”

“You don't need to apologize, unnie.” Minjoo sat on the couch next to her. “Hey… I need to tell you something.” She paused and Kriesha looked at her, expecting her to finish. “I ran into Jae just now…” 

“What? Where?” She asked, a little confused.

“On the subway station.” Her friend explained. “I’m sorry, unnie, but I told him you weren't feeling good.”

“Why?” She really wanted to ask Minjoo what he had said.

“Idk… I said you were worried about him and I was worried about you.” The girl admitted. “Honestly, he looked like he was in pretty bad shape as well.” 

“Yeah… I'm scared of what his company might do to him. To the band.” 

“No matter what, though, it's important that you know it's not your fault.” Minjoo emphasized. 

Kriesha felt her phone buzzing.

 

**_< Message from Coco>_ **

 

**_Jyp finally came clean about your little thing with Jae lol_ **

**_Jae also posted an apology_ **

**_Why didn't you tell me it was just bc of guitar lessons???_ **

 

Wait, what?

“Minjooya, JYPE released a statement.” Kriesha clicked on the link to open it. “They're denying everything. Why am I even surprised?” 

“What's the problem with these companies… just let your idols date, man.” Minjoo said, knowing damn well that if her company had a dating ban contract, she most likely wouldn’t follow  _ at all. _

Kriesha rolled her eyes and opened Jae's twitter account to see his apology letter next. Why the hell did he have to apologize?

“Oh… Minjooya…” 

“What??”

“He's also denying everything…” She showed her friend the letter. 

“Well, it's not like he could go behind JYPE's back and just come clean about everything.” Minjoo made a good point.

“But the way he said it… Look.” She showed it to her friend. “Our relationship has been purely professional.” Kriesha was a little hurt. “Should've advised me to seek help from my company? Does he really feel like that?”

“I don't know, unnie.” Minjoo was honest.

“It almost sounds like… he regrets everything.” The girl said. “And maybe he should. Maybe he's right and we shouldn't see each other again.”

Minjoo didn't say anything else. She noticed her friend was about to start crying again and just moved a little closer to the girl, wrapping her arms around her and hoping to provide some comfort. 

“Minjooya…” Kriesha cried. “Why does this hurt so much?”

Minjoo held her friend even tighter. 

“It'll be okay… I'm here.” 

Kriesha couldn't help her tears from falling and she even felt stupid for it. Was she really crying that hard over someone she had met less than a week ago? Why the hell did she have to feel like this? And  _ what _ was she feeling, exactly? Something she had never experienced before, that's for sure. Something that felt so nice… so warm… well, before all of this happened, of course. Now what Kriesha feared the most was not being able to feel all that again. 

“Unnie…” Minjoo didn't even have anything to say, but she was worried about Kriesha hurting like that.

Suddenly, they heard the intercom ringing. 

“I'll get it.” Minjoo promptly said as she got up. 

“Minmin, did you order anything?” Kriesha furrowed her eyebrows and wiped the tears off her face, confused.

“Nope.” She replied and answered the device. “Chu residence.” Kriesha giggled at her friend being silly.

“Uh… what?” The voice on the other side said. “Is Kriesha there?” 

“Yes… she is.” Her friend said. 

“Jae????” The girl mouthed as she tried to confirm the voice's identity. 

“I don't know, but I think so.” Minjoo silently replied.

“No! Tell him I'm not here!” She begged, inaudibly.

“Hello?” He couldn't hear anything.

“Too late! Go!” She said, still quietly. Then raised her voice to talk to the boy. “I'll let you in so you can talk to her.” And then hung up.

“Are you insane? Is  _ he _ insane? If he gets caught anywhere near my place it'll look so bad for him!” 

“Then he better not get caught.” Minjoo said, picking up her bag and placing a kiss on her friend's forehead. “I wanna know everything later, okay?” 

“Minjooya…” Krieha tried protesting, but she really wanted to see Jae. 

Minjoo opened the door and saw Jae standing there, ready to ring the doorbell. 

“Oh… hi.” He said. 

“Is this our thing now? Bumping into each other?” Minjoo joked. “Seems fun.” The three of them shared a bittersweet giggle. “I'll leave you to it.” The girl stepped outside the apartment and headed to the elevator. 

“Bye, Minjooya!” Kriesha yelled from the inside and then turned to Jae. “Hi…” She forced a smile. 

Jae took a good look at her face. Puffy eyes, running red nose, rosy cheeks, face still a bit wet. Yep, she'd definitely been crying. And Jae really, really hated knowing it was because of him.

“Hi.” He finally said. 

“Come in.” Kriesha said. “You don't wanna be seen here.” He quickly followed her suggestion. “So… what are you doing here?” She sounded annoyed, even a little rude.

“I thought… I thought we agreed I was  coming by today.” He explained.

“Yeah but then you never texted me back.” She sighed, sitting on the couch. “And then there was this apology letter–” 

“I didn't write that.” Jae interrupted, sitting next to her. “They wrote it for me and asked me to tweet it.”

“What? So they made you  _ lie _ ?” She asked. 

“Well…” The boy didn't know how to say it. “Not exactly.” 

“Oh… so  _ you  _ lied.” Kriesha concluded. 

“I panicked. And I feel terrible. But I was scared…” He got a little closer to her and took her hand, intertwining their fingers. “I didn't know what could happen, Kriesh.” 

The girl felt her whole body shiver with his touch and the way he called her “Kriesh”, but she didn't give in. 

“Jae… how do you expect this to work out if you can't even be honest about us?” She made a good point, but he chuckled.

“Do you have any idea how many idols date and no one ever needs to find out?” 

Kriesha's mind went straight to Minjoo. Of course she knew. 

“This is different though.” She said. “People are already all up in our business, so we'd have to be extra careful. We wouldn't be able to even walk alongside each other without raising suspicions.” Jae knew the girl was right. “And, Jae…” She took her other hand to the boy's chest. “Something tells me you wouldn't be the type to lie to your company, to your fans, to the whole world like that and just be okay about it.” And Kriesha was right once again. 

Jae took his free hand to her cheek and leaned in, getting his face closer to hers.

“But what other option do we have?” He closed his eyes and joined their foreheads together, making Kriesha hold tighter to his hand. “I can't go back on what I said now… that would be…” 

“Disaster.” She completed. “I know.” She also closed her eyes, almost forgetting how to breathe with Jae standing so close to her like that. That boy really messed her up.

Jae leaned in even closer, involuntarily going for a kiss. 

“Jae…” She said, hardly being able to resist. “We shouldn't.” 

“I know.” Both of them just remained there, close enough to feel each other's breath on their skin. 

“Oh, to hell with it.” Kriesha outed her thoughts as she took her hand to the back of Jae's neck, pulling him closer and kissing his lips.

Jae promptly kissed her back, taking his hand to the girl's waist. Though he tried, he couldn't help but smile the moment she kissed him. That's exactly what Jae liked the most about Kriesha. The way she knew what she wanted and just went for it. The way she was confidently unconfident about some things, but it didn't stop her from trying. The way she was, above all things, true to herself. 

As they broke apart from the kiss, Kriesha placed both of her hands on Jae's face, holding it so she could place little gentle pecks all over it, making the both of them giggle. 

“I wish we could just… be.” The girl said.

“I know.” Jae agreed. “I'm sorry… about all of this. It's all happening because of me.” 

“Hey, shut up.” Kriesha instantly took her index finger to the boy's lips. “It's not your fault.” She laid her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him.

Jae sighed as he held the girl, kissing the top of her head and bringing her closer. He gently ran the tip of his fingers up and down her back and they both remained there, silent. Together, wondering how it would feel to be apart. Wondering what would become of the “us” they were just now starting to build. 

Jae was caught up in his own thoughts, memories from a somewhat recent past had never been so alive before. It was weird to even think about it. To even think about  _ him.. _ . Junhyeok. The boy who parted ways from DAY6 way too soon. Or maybe just at the right time – who could ever tell? It's been so long since Jae had last spoken to him. How was he doing? Last he heard of, he was doing some gigs with another band. And that was it. Like Jae, no one ever heard his name again. 

As much as Jae hurt and felt sorry for his old friend, he refused to let the same thing happen to himself. The problem was that he had absolutely no clue what to do next. 

“I don't know how to get out of this mess.” Jae confessed. “I don't want this to be over.” 

“I don't think we have a choice, Jae.” Kriesha pulled away from him to look at his face. “You shouldn't even be here.” 

“I know. I turned my phone off as soon as I left the company and I…” Jae paused for a short while and looked her in the eyes. “I didn't think.” He said. “I just needed to see you.” 

As soon as she heard him, Kriesha pressed her lips against the boy's cheek for a long while, not saying anything. 

“I think you should go.” The girl said after a few seconds, weakly, almost in a whisper.

Kriesha instantly got up from the couch and made her way to the front door, knowing each moment that went by made it harder for the two to say goodbye. As they were standing in front of each other, Jae grabbed her hand and repeated the girl's gesture, kissing her forehead and breathing her in as much as he could.

“I just…” Jae started.

“Bye, beautiful boy.” She interrupted, opening the door and showing him a bittersweet smile, trying to fight the tears that were filling up her eyes.

“Bye, crazy.” He smiled back, though he could feel his heart breaking. It had to be done.

As Jae pulled apart from Kriesha, he let go of her hand, feeling that maybe he had left a teeny tiny piece of himself right there with her. 

And that maybe that teeny tiny piece wasn't very teeny and tiny at all. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii! Sorry for taking so long to post this chapter. 
> 
> It includes Junhyeok and I know it's a sensitive subject, so I sincerely apologize if it makes anyone feel uncomfortable. I truly felt it would be important for him to be included in this one, though, so I hope you'll understand why. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

“Hyung, you're home!” Wonpil was the first to make a remark.

They were all in the living room, but the TV wasn't on and they didn't seem to be playing any board games. Which basically meant they had been talking. And that Jae was most likely the subject.

“Hey.” He said, taking off his coat and hanging it on a chair.

“Dude, there's literally a coat hanger right. there.” Sungjin pointed. 

Jae completely ignored his friend and casually made his way to his room. He really didn't want to talk. 

“Hyung, please.” He heard Brian's voice. We were worried about you. What happened there? That statement? Your apology?” His friend asked. “And what happened to your phone?”

“I lied.” He shrugged. “I saw no way out so I just… lied.” 

The boys shared a look. 

“But now… what?” Dowoon was confused.

“That's a good question, Dowoonie.” Jae stated, leaving the living room. “If you ever find the answer, please let me know.”

As soon as Jae went in his room, he lied on his bed and turned his phone on again. There were so many unread and unreplied texts. Jimin, Woosung, Kevin, Matthew, McKay, James… Wait, what?

 

**_< Message from Junhyeok>_ **

**_Jaehyung hyung… I know this is weird, we haven't talked in a long time. I don't even know if this is still your number, but I just wanted to say that I saw everything that's going on. And I don't know if there's any truth to what they're saying or not, but I… Honestly I don't know… but If you wanna talk or whatever… hi._ **

 

Okay, so that was unexpected (to say the least). He could never have imagined Junhyeok would have texted him, given the fact they weren't really friends anymore. 

Though the message had gotten him by surprise, Jae felt the need to respond right away. 

 

**_You: Junhyeok-ssi?_ **

**_You: Hi_ **

**_You: Thank you for saying all that_ **

 

He was about to put his phone away again, but it buzzed almost immediately.

 

**_Junhyeok: No problem_ **

**_Junhyeok: I just got yk worried_ **

**_Junhyeok: I vividly remember how hard it was for me_ **

**_Junhyeok: How are you dealing with it?_ **

 

Dealing with it? He definitely wasn't dealing with it. 

 

**_You: I'm… not?_ **

**_You: I'm scared_ **

**_You: Shitless_ **

 

Jae was not one to easily talk about his feelings, so he didn't know why he felt the urge to be so honest with Junhyeok all of a sudden. Maybe it was because he's been through something similar… or maybe it was because he wasn't a part of Jae's life anymore, which made things quite simpler.

 

**_Junhyeok: I know_ **

**_Junhyeok: Hey…_ **

**_Junhyeok: Do you wanna meet up?_ **

**_Junhyeok: We could grab something to drink_ **

 

You know what?

Let's get it.

 

**_You: What bar?_ **

 

**_Junhyeok: Well I was thinking more of a smoothie or something but sure_ **

**_Junhyeok: Do you guys still go to that one in Itaewon?_ **

 

**_You: I haven't gone in a while_ **

**_You: I can meet you there in 20_ **

 

Jae stopped for a second to think that it probably wasn't the wisest idea going out to drink during all of this mess.

What if someone sees them? Especially in Itaewon, a neighborhood known for its nightlife.

 

**_You: Yo, do they still have those private rooms? Do we need to book them?_ **

 

**_Junhyeok: I just did_ **

**_Junhyeok: See you in 20_ **

 

Jae went back to the living room and grabbed his coat.

“Guys, I can't be home now, okay? I'm going out to get some air.” He couldn't possibly tell them what he was gonna do and who he was gonna do it with.

“Hyung, are you sure?” Brian asked. “Do you want us to tag along?”

“No, it's okay. I just need to be alone for a while.” He lied. And he absolutely hated how good he was getting at it.

“Just please be careful, hyung.” Wonpil said. “It's late.”

Jae looked at the time.

“It's 9:30 PM.” He pointed out.

“I don't care, just be safe.” Wonpil demanded.

Jae nodded and the boys didn't say anything else, so he just put on a face mask, said goodbye and left the apartment. He wished so hard for his brain to stop focusing so much on what's been going on, but it was stupid to even try. Of course he couldn't let it go. And honestly… who could?

Jae got there exactly 20 minutes after leaving his place and asked for Junhyeok's reservation. One of the waiters took him to the arranged room, which was large enough to fit a group of 10. As he sat down, the first thing he thought of was the night they decided to celebrate – by themselves – their debut for the first time. 

All 6 of them, drinking and laughing and sharing stories from their trainee days. Stories that led them to where they were at that very moment. Truth is, when they started out, it wasn't easy. They would fight a lot over minor and major things and for a moment there it was hard to believe they would ever see eye to eye. Not because they didn't like each other, they really did; but because they hadn't yet understood that their differences could also be a strength – the different colors of DAY6. And perhaps that had been the very night when they came to that conclusion. 

Now, after almost three years, a lot had changed. There weren't six of them anymore. They were being called an “idol band”, which was never really what they expected. Their popularity had dramatically grown over the past year thanks to the “Every DAY6” project. They were about to go on a freaking world tour, visit a lot of the countries they've always wanted to go to. All those things were completely new. 

But there he was. 

Back at where they started. 

“Jaehyung hyung?” He heard a familiar voice.

“Junhyeok-ssi.” Jae got up to greet his old friend, going for a handshake. 

“It's been a really long time.” Junhyeok said.

“It really has.” Jae agreed.

They both sat down at the table, facing each other. In order to avoid awkwardness, Junhyeok decided to not stay quiet for even a second longer.

“So, what do you want to eat?” The younger asked.

“I'm actually more in the mood for a drink.” Jae confessed. 

“Oh. Are you sure?” He knew Jae wasn't much of a drinker, but understood the circumstances.

“Definitely.” 

“Okay then.” Junhyeok made a sign for the waiter and they both made their orders.

“So…” Jae started, but then made a pause that was long enough for the other boy to doubt he was even gonna say anything else. “Ah, man… I don't even know.”

“Yeah…” Junhyeok agreed. “But like… what happened? You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, but—”

“Did you read the statement? And my apology letter?” Jae did some air quotes for the “my” part.

“Yes, I did.”

“I lied. I lied to the company, I lied to JYP himself and now I've lied to the fans as well.” He confessed. No one knew how much all of this was actually hurting him.

“So… you two  _ are _ dating?” Junhyeok asked.

“Not exactly… We really did meet for the first time on ASC, but the moment I saw her I felt something different.” He explained. “I don't know, it's weird. I had never felt that before.”

“So, then… love at first sight?” Junhyeok teased and they both shared a laughter.

Jae told Junhyeok everything, all that had happened  between them and how good he felt when he was next to Kriesha. Once he started talking about her, he realized he couldn't stop, simply because he had an entire universe of good things to say about that girl. 

For some odd reason, it felt really nice and easy talking to Junhyeok. They were having fun together and laughing their worries away. Pretty soon the conversation changed its course somehow and Jae was actually able to relax a little as they were reminiscing about their past as six. Suddenly, their talk was filled with laughter and “remember when's”, “what about that time” or “I can't believe this really happened”.

Meanwhile, the waiter kept bringing more drinks to their table. 

“Hyung, I think you've had enough.” Junhyeok tried talking to Jae, who at this point was laughing by himself.

“Nooooo…” He said, tipsy to say the least. “Today I drink to forget.” He raised his tiny glass.

“Forget what, exactly?” Junhyeok asked.

“Everything!” He shrugged. “I don't wanna deal with anything tonight.”

“If you didn't, we wouldn't be here.” Jae knew his friend was right.

“Look, man, I don't wanna talk about it.” He paused. “Again.”

“Then can you at least listen?” Junhyeok didn't give Jae enough time to respond. “I think you should come clean about everything.”

“Yeah, right. Look what happened to you.” He remarked. “The fans wouldn't even look at you.” As soon as he said it, he felt bad and looked at the younger boy, who had a sad expression on his face. “I'm sorry.”

“That was different.” Junhyeok shook his head as he tried to explain.

“And why exactly was it different?” Jae ironically furrowed his eyebrows.

“It didn't come from me. Conversations were leaked.” Good point. “Plus, I was just dumb. I thought I could hide shit like that from everyone, and I just wanted to have my fun.” Jae sat there, listening, as Junhyeok continued. “I wasn't even in love, hyung.” 

Jae didn't say anything for a while, he just kept looking down.

“Things are also different now.” Junhyeok said. “You guys are more popular. Even more loved.” He kept looking at Jae  waiting for some sort of response. “Hyung, I think you owe it to yourself to be happy. You know JYPE doesn't have an official dating ban.”

Jae felt horrible for even thinking it, but for a second there he wondered if maybe Junhyeok just wanted him to go down like he had, a couple of years ago. What Junhyeok was saying didn't make sense. Nope, it didn't make sense at all. How could Jae just go back on his word like that? What would the company think? What would the  _ fans _ think? 

Yeah, Junhyeok was completely right. Wait, what? He meant wrong. Junhyeok was completely wrong. Jae shook his head as if to try and sort out his thoughts. 

“I'm not saying it won't be hard, but what will be harder?” Junhyeok rhetorically asked.

Truth is, Jae had absolutely no idea how to answer that. This, DAY6, what they're doing together is what he's been dreaming of since God knows when. How hard would it be to face everyone and everything over this? On the other hand, Kriesha has been in his life, for what, 5 minutes? It would certainly be the easy way out to just forget about her and move on. But… what if he couldn't? His feelings for her were so strong that he actually didn't think he would be able to just move on that easily. 

“Dude, I'm calling it a night.” Jae suddenly said, as he tried to get up from the stool and realized he was too tipsy to stand, falling to the floor on his butt.

“Hyung!” Junhyeok ran to his friend. “Are you okay?”

Jae looked at him and they both stared at each other with a worried expression for about two seconds before they burst into laughter. Junhyeok helped the tall boy up. 

“You're such a lightweight!” He complained. “We drank the same amount of alcohol, you know?!” 

“I'm just tired.” Jae lied, while still chuckling. “Let's get it!” He motioned to walk towards the door.

“Not so fast!” Junhyeok sat the older boy down on his stool. “Figure out a way to put on your coat and mask while I'll get the check.” He pointed at where those items were as he put on his own mask and left the room. 

Jae decided to check his phone. There wasn't a lot of new messages apart from Wonpil and Sungjin worried about him and Jimin sending more videos of dogs being weird.

Nope, no text from Kriesha. 

Jae opened the chat room with her and as he was about to type something, Junhyeok returned and Jae immediately put away his phone. 

“Hyung, do you need help to put on your coat?” The younger one asked.

“Nah… it's cool.” Jae suddenly felt a wave of sobriety kicking in and was able to organize his stuff correctly. “Now can we go?” He asked, already with his mask on.

“Yeah, let's go.” Junhyeok confirmed. 

They lived in completely opposite directions, but Jae looked like he was going to fall asleep at any second, so Junhyeok hailed him a cab and decided to take his friend home. Boy, was he losing money tonight.

“We're here.” Junhyeok said, getting out of the car and going to the other side to help Jae out. 

“No… Let me sleep.” Jae complained, but was somewhat forced out of the car and into his building.

“What floor, Jae hyung?” Junhyeok asked and Jae pressed the button on the elevator. “Do you have your keys?” Jae nodded, gesturing at his coat pocket, leading Junhyeok to search for it and quickly finding it. He put the keys on Jae's hand. “Hyung, we're here.” He helped his friend get to the front door. 

It's not that Jae was  _ that _ drunk, he was just drunk plus tired plus worried plus sad. So, well, not exactly a great emotional combo.

“Thanks, man.” Jae gave him a bro handshake as he tried to open the door. “Nope, not this key.” He tried another one. “Not this one either.” He started laughing and Junhyeok didn't know what to do, he just wanted to leave before any of the other boys saw them. And he didn't even know why. 

Jae tried another key. 

“It's also not this one.” He started to frown. “Why do I have so many keys?” He leaned his back to the door and let his body slide down till he was fully sat on the floor.

“Hyung?” Junhyeok kneeled down beside him.

“I don't understand why there are so many keys, but only one of them fits correctly.” Jae covered his face, noticing he was starting to cry. “Why can't they all work? Why can't every key in the universe open the  doors we want to open??” He wiped his tears and leaned his head back, sighing. “I mean… why do we have to choose one?”

“‘Cause then… what would even be the point of having keys at all?” Junhyeok furrowed his eyebrows. “Its purpose of keeping us safe wouldn't be fulfilled.”

Jae gave him a look, since he was clearly not talking about keys at all.

“I mean it.” Junhyeok understood. “Sometimes we just gotta choose, hyung.”

Jae tried once again to decide what was the right key before getting up, but the door was suddenly opened and Jae almost fell with his back to the floor, but Junhyeok managed to hold him up.

“Hyung??” Brian said in disbelief. “Junhyeok-ssi???” What the hell was going on?!

“Eyyyy, it's my man, Briannn!!! Jae got up and gave Brian a hug.

“Are you drunk?!” He asked, but couldn't keep his eyes off of Junhyeok. “It's really you.”

“Yeah, it's really me!!!” Jae replied and made his way into the apartment, straight to his bedroom.

“Hey.” Junhyeok finally said. “I'm sorry, we didn't want to wake you.” He apologized. “Look, Jae's fine. I know he's a lightweight, but he didn't even drink that much. I honestly think he's just too sad.” The boy was being honest. 

“Yeah.” Brian agreed. “Thanks… for bringing him home.” 

“No problem.” Junhyeok gave Jae's keys to the boy in front of him. “He dropped those.” He gestured goodbye and made his way to the elevator.

Brian wanted to ask him so many things. He had things he wanted to to apologize for, too. But he couldn't. Not at that moment. So he just let his former friend go while quietly standing there. 

When he got to their room, Jae looked like he was asleep. 

However, the boy was silently lying in his bed, having his daily conversation with God, asking for forgiveness for his actiona, protection for his loved ones and praying really hard that everything would be okay the next morning, that he would be able to forget her.

Jae was literally praying for a miracle.

 

* * *

 

**DAY 1**

Kriesha got up the next morning feeling awful, but even so she got up and faced another day of performing in a music show. Today she was supposed to perform Sunset Dream, the song for which she had written english lyrics for Jae. Great.

As she was performing it onstage, even though she was singing in Korean, it was impossible not to think of the boy's face when she sang it to him at her place. The way he looked at her, with that shy smile. The way he seemed to froze as she was approaching him. It was impossible not to think of the very moment when they kissed for the first time. 

But none of that mattered now, right?

Right.

  
  


**DAY 4**

Jae was trying so hard to move on and forget all about Kriesha that he dove into work, like he always did when he was trying to avoid something that was bothering him. The thing is, this time it didn't seem to work. It was impossible for him to let go of his thoughts, actually impossible for him to focus. That had never happened before. 

“Hyung, you missed your queue.” Sungjin said. 

“Oh, my bad. Let's go again.” Jae replied.

And so it went on.

  
  


**DAY 9**

It was Kriesha's last day of promotions for her new single album. This time she was actually asked to perform her English version of Sunset Dream, which she had finally finished writing. However, she would be lying if she said she wasn't doubtful about whether or not she would be able to perform it. But what the hell, it's been almost ten days since she last spoke to Jae. Why couldn't she just stop thinking about that boy? Why does everything need to remind her of him?

  
  


DAY 13

 

As days went by, Jae figured it would be easier to move on. But it kept getting harder. The other day he “accidentally” saw a performance video of Kriesha singing the song she wrote him. His heart stopped. How could he miss so much someone who had been a part of his life for such a short while?

  
  


DAY 21

 

Kriesha was getting ready to start her reality show, Chu TV. She was excited about everything and how nice things had been working out for her career, even despite the whole mess from almost a month ago. 

Wow, a month ago. Had it really been that long? 

  
  


**DAY 30**

“Hyung, what are you doing there?” Brian suddenly asked.

“Uh…” Jae responded. “This.” He handed a piece of paper with some lyrics written on it to his friend.

 

_ In that place we set fire _

_ Warmed the walls with stories like _

_ How we’d build this roof so high _

_ Like all kids do _

 

_ Everything’s falling, falling, all of it is crashing _

_ Falling down on me _

_ Only that remains in my hand _

 

_ Everything’s fallen, fallen, all of it is dust _

_ I know it’s cause of me _

_ Forever, I’m gonna live by painting over the past _

 

“Whoa, this is really good.” Brian said, after reading it. 

“Thanks.” Jae shyly smiled.

“But… are you okay?” He asked, looking at his friend. 

There was no response. 

  
  


**DAY 45**

“Unnie!” Minjoo exclaimed as she ran into her friend at their company. 

“Minjooya!” The girl greeted her with a smile. 

“I miss you!” She said. “We haven't talked in, like, a week.” Minjo frowned.

“I've just been so busy, Minmin. I'm sorry.” She squeezed her friend's hand. 

“Kriesha-ssi!” She heard her manager calling. 

“Sorry, I gotta go.” 

“Sure, but are you—” Kriesha ran off before Minjoo could finish her sentence. “...okay?”

  
  


**DAY 61**

“Jaehyung, how can you still be getting this wrong?!” Sungjin asked, angry, and Jae was taken aback from the boy's informality with him.

“I'm sorry! I can't focus today.” Jae tried to justify himself. 

“If it was just today, it would be nice…” He heard as Wonpil made his remark and rolled his eyes.

“What did you just say?” The boy turned to him, annoyed.

“You haven't been able to focus in weeks!” Wonpil said, way louder now. 

“Well, it's not like your annoying habit of humming all the freaking time actually helps.” Jae felt his cheeks getting hot.

“At least I'm focused when I'm actually doing my job!” The younger boy was yelling now.

“You know what—” Jae got up, pointing a finger to Wonpil's direction. 

“You know what?!” Sungjin raised his voice, getting between them. “I think we should call it a night.” He took one hand to Jae's chest, pushing the boy a little further away from the other. “Let's go.”

  
  


**DAY 78**

“Kriesha, what's wrong?” Her manager asked. “You're about to go live at the radio show.” 

“I’m sorry.” She grabbed a tissue and wiped her tears. “It's nothing.” 

“Are you sure?” He furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Yeah… I just really miss my family.” She gave him a bittersweet smile. “I tried calling my mom just now so that she could hear the show on the radio, but she didn't pick up.” She sighed. “We keep missing each other.”

“What are you talking about? Your family lives here.” He was confused, but Kriesha shook her head. 

“They all moved back to San Francisco about six weeks ago.” She confessed. “I'm not used to being without them.” 

“Why didn't you tell me?” He awkwardly patted her shoulder.

“It's okay.” She sniffed, letting out a shy smile. “There's nothing you could've done anyway.” 

“Well… now we gotta do this.” He faced her. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

  
  


**DAY 94**

“There's no getting out of this.” Minjoo said. 

“But, Minmin…” Kriesha tried to argue, though she knew she'd end up losing to her friend. 

“No buts. We're going out tomorrow night after your recording and that's final.” She put her foot down. “Don't even bother trying to argue.” 

“Alright… where are we eating?” Kriesha gave in. 

“Eating? No, no.” She giggled at her friend's innocence. “Tomorrow we're drinking. And dancing.” 

“What?” Kriesha widened her eyes. 

  
  


**DAY 95**

“Guys, I can't believe it's all finally 100% ready.” Brian said. “I feel like I can just relax now for, like, two days ‘till our schedules are all full again.” 

“I'm really loving the vibe of this album.” Jae confessed. “And the MV was dope.” 

“We should go out to celebrate!” Wonpil suggested. 

“I agree. We should invite our friends as well.” Sungjin said. 

“And the crew? It's only fair…” Dowoon felt impolite. 

“How about we take the crew to dinner and then we celebrate later, DAY6 style?” Sungjin mentioned. 

“You mean we buy them dinner then go back to our place to eat some more junk food, play videogames and then sleep?” Brian ironically asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“No, that would be ‘Young K style’.” Wonpil said and they all laughed. 

“I'm with Sungjin. I think we should go clubbing or something.” Jae suddenly said, turning all heads to him. 

“What?” Brian furrowed his eyebrows. “ _ You _ wanna go clubbing?” 

“Man, I just wanna celebrate!” He smiled. “We did it!”

“I'm in!” Wonpil raised his hand. 

“Me, too.” Sungjin followed. 

“Okay, sure.” Brian was still a little reluctant. 

“I'll go where you guys go.” The maknae  declared. 

“Then that's it!” Jae exclaimed. “Tonight we celebrate, peasants!”

 

* * *

 

“Dude, I think I'm broke.” Jae said after having paid dinner for literally everyone there. 

“It was worth it.” Brian weakly said, leaning his back on the wall and resting his hand on his stomach. 

“I don't think I'll be able to eat ever again.” Dowoon dramatized.

“Should we just cancel everything and go home?” Sungjin suggested, barely keeping his eyes open. 

“I agree.” Brian raised his hand.

“No, guys!!” Wonpil cried. “Everyone just left, we can hang out a bit longer and then go to the club.”

“Plus, it's not every day we get to go to Club Mass as VIP guests, right?” Jae said.

“It's weird that you care so much.” Sungjin narrowed his eyes. 

“I don't, but I thought bringing up the name of the most famous club in Gangnam would excite you guys a bit more.” Jae shrugged.

“Do you even, like, know us?” Brian was being rhetorical. 

“Shut up.” Jae said.

“How did you even get us on that list?” Sungjin wanted to know.

“Jamie is literally friends with everyone.” Jae explained.

“Oh, so it's her we should be thanking?” Brian asked and Jae nodded.

“Okay, so… let's go?” Wonpil was the most excited one. “Is Kevin hyung gonna be there?” He asked Jae.

“Yes…?” Jae raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“No reason, I just haven't seen him in a while.” He explained, but the boys exchanged looks among themselves.

“Alright, sure.” Wonpil and Kevin had hooked up years ago, but Wonpil was actually the one who ended it. Jae was confused, but still he decided to let it go. “Let's get it.”

 

* * *

 

“Minmin, I really don't wanna go.” Kriesha pouted, hoping her friend would let her off for being too cute.

“Awwww, that's cute.” Minjoo squeezed her cheek. “But we're going.” Kriesha rolled her eyes. “You're already dressed and you look fine a hell! There's no way I'm letting you go back to bed.”

Kriesha looked in the mirror. She really did look good. Her outfits for the performances, variety shows and interviews were always so… cute. That's the side of her that the company decided to show; but seeing herself in a little black dress and denim jacket, Kriesha even felt a little sexy. The thought made her smile. 

“See?” Minjoo said. “You're getting excited about it already.”

Kriesha's smile disappeared.

“Not really, though.” She frowned. “How did you even get us on the list for Club Mass’ VIP lounge?”

“I have my ways.” Minjoo winked.

“Who did you kill?” Kriesha asked, jokingly.

“You'll never know. But don't go looking for bodies on my fridge.” They both giggled. “Come on, let's go. Our uber is here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave kudos or comments so I know you're enjoying it! It makes me really happy and enthusiastic about writing more! <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so...
> 
>  ! SPOILER ALERT !
> 
> This chapter includes a (not too long) sex scene, so if any of you are uncomfortable with it, you can just skip to the end as soon as they get to Kriesha's place.  
> Hope you enjoy!!

“Hyungs, this is awesome!” Dowoon looked amazed.

“Children, you've made it!” Jimin said as she saw the 5 boys entering the VIP area. “And you all came together!”

“Jimin-ssi!” Brian was the first one to greet her, but was quickly followed by everyone else. “We just had dinner with our crew.”

“So… how does this work?” Jae was curious.

“Ok, so…” She had to speak a little louder because of the music. “This lounge is for every VIP guest, but there are also those private rooms there,” she pointed, “and I got two of them just for you.” She explained and handed them a card with the numbers of each room. “There's a larger one for groups and a smaller one if you, um, need some privacy.” She felt awkward saying it. “You can even lock it from the inside.” She gestured the lock. “I also got one of the smaller one for me, it's the one right next to yours, so of you need to use it, it's fine too.” 

“Oh, wow.” Sungjin said. It was a lot for his brain to process.

“Cool, cool. Take me to your room.” Brian said, leaning in closer to Jimin so she could hear him better. “Can I take a nap?” He joked. 

“Oh my God, shut up!” Jimin gave him a little push on his arm, laughing and covering her mouth with her hand.

“I'm just joking!” He defended himself, taking his hand to the place the girl pushed him, laughing.

“Okay, cool. So… what now?” Jae wondered out loud.

“Now we dance!” Jimin replied, dancing away from the boys and towards her other group of friends. 

“Wonpil hyung already found something to keep him busy.” Dowoon motioned to Wonpil, who was sitting next to Kevin, talking to him. 

“Ladies and gents, we might be getting a revival tonight.” Jae pointed out and the boys laughed. 

“I'm gonna go get a drink.” Sungjin stated.

“I'll come with.” Dowoon said, as he tagged along.

“And then there were two.” Brian said to Jae and they shared a quiet laughter. “Hyung, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” He took a step towards Jae so he could speak a little closer to his ear, but all of a sudden he stopped and grabbed his friend's arm. “Hyung, is that—” Jae followed the direction towards where Brian's eyes were staring at.

“Kriesha.” He said as soon as he laid eyes on her. “This isn't happening.” Jae was thinking out loud. 

“Are you going to—” Brian was interrupted again.

“No.” Yes. Yes, he really wanted to.

It was astounding how one simple look at her could still make Jae's heart start dancing in his chest; it was astounding the power that girl still had over him. As he stood there, staring at her, Jae for a second forgot how to breathe. She looked incredible. But if we're being honest, she always did. No matter what she wore, no matter if she was wearing makeup or not, she was still the most stunning girl Jae had ever seen. 

And that's because Kriesha's beauty came from somewhere way deeper than meets the eye; it came from her soul. People say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but Jae was pretty sure that, in her case, her smile was that one thing that gave it away. Whenever she smiled, he could literally see the light emanating from deep within her. And it was so beautiful. 

“Hyung?” Brian tried to get Jae's attention, who was just frozen there. The taller boy shook his head.

“Yeah… yeah, yeah, should we also get drinks?” He turned away so he would stop facing her. 

“Hyung, you should talk to her.” Brian honestly said.

“What for?” Jae shrugged. “Nah, let's just go to the bar.” He said as he walked away.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, this is actually pretty cool.” Kriesha admitted. “The second floor is especially nice.

“I told you so, unnie!” Minjoo was satisfied. “And the music here is incredible. Best DJs only!” She exclaimed.

“So, tell me how you got us in!” Kriesha insisted.

“That's not important. Let's just enjoy the night!” Minjoo raised her glass as if she was going to make a toast and Kriesha was so confused since she had no idea when Minjoo actually got that glass she was holding.

“Minmin, look slightly to your right.” Kriesha said. “Look who's here.”

“Three o'clock?” She asked.

“Do I look like a clock to you?! I never really used that properly.” Kriesha said. “Anyways, it's Jimin! She's here!” Minjoo turned her head instantly. “Wow way to go, really discrete.” Kriesha sarcastically pointed out.

“Oh, God.” Minjoo kept staring at her. “She's so beautiful.”

“She really is.” Kriesha agreed.

“And so hot!” her friend added and Kriesha laughed. “Please introduce us.”

“Minmin, I haven't talked to her in months…” Kriesha felt a little awkward. 

“Pleeeeeease? Pretty please with cherry on top?” Minjoo begged. 

“Alright…” Kriesha gave in. “The things I do for you…”

“Yayyy!” Minjoo celebrated by slightly clapping her hands a couple of times and Kriesha made her way towards Jimin's direction.

“Jimin unnie!” The girl yelled so she would be heard over the loud music.

“Oh, my God! Kriesha!” Jimin politely greeted her, going for a hug. She definitely seemed to have some amount of alcohol in her system. “What are you doing here?” Jimin looked very surprised.

“She brought me.” Kriesha pointed at her friend. 

“More like dragged her here or else she would never leave the apartment.” Minjoo corrected her. 

“Unnie, this is Minjoo. Minjoo, Jimin unnie.” Kriesha introduced them to each other. 

“Hi! I'm a huge fan, actually.” The youngest confessed.

“Thank you so much!” Jimin replied, honestly. “You're pretty good, too!!” 

“What?? You know me??” Minjoo was in shock.

“Of course I do! You were awesome on Kpop Star, girl!” Jimin complimented her.

“Thank you! It means so much!” She bowed in gratitude.

“It's nothing!” Jimin smiled, resting her hand on the girl's shoulder. “Have you met these ladies?” She pointed at the girls sitting on a couch behind her. “This is Emily, this is Eunbyul and this is Jimma.” They all waved. “Come sit with us!” 

“Sure!” Minjoo was overly excited about the invitation. 

“Minmin, I'll go get us something to drink.” Kriesha said, as she moved away from the girl who clearly wasn't even paying attention to her anymore.

Kriesha regretted the moment she saw how crowded the bar was. She stood there for a long while listening to people's orders until she was able to order for herself. 

“Do you guys have piña colada?” She asked and the bartender nodded affirmatively. “Good, I'll take two.” She managed to find herself a little stool as she waited for her drinks to be made. 

“Miss.” The bartender said after a few minutes, handing the drinks to her.

“Thanks!” She got up and took both cups from the man's hands, making her way back to where she had left her friend. But when she got there… “Where's Minjoo?” She asked Jimin. 

“She left with Emily!” Jimin explained.

“What?! She left the party?!” Kriesha was about to murder someone.

“Oh, no!” Jimin corrected herself and leaned in to speak close to the girl's ear. “She went to Emily's private room. Apparently they bonded… a lot.” Jimin said that while letting out a laughter, but Kriesha didn't look pleased. “Are you okay?”

“No.” Kriesha answered with honesty. “No, it's not. I didn't even want to come. She literally  _ dragged _ me here. And now I have to stand here alone because she can't freaking control her hormones!” Kriesha realized she was shouting, but didn't mind since the music was loud anyways. 

“Hey.” Jimin took one of the drinks from Kriesha and grabbed her hand. “Come with me.” She made her way to the small private room she had reserved for her. 

As they got in and closed the door, Kriesha felt like she could breathe a little better. The music wasn't so loud and the whole crowd was gone. She shouldn't have come. The girl put the drink on the center table so she could free her hands and sat on the couch, letting her whole weight go.

“God, I'm just so…” She was looking for words. “Ugh!” But failed.

“I know.” Jimin said next to her. “I'm sorry.” She meant it. “Do you want me to get you a cab, an uber?”

“No… it's okay.” Kriesha took a deep, annoyed breath.

“We could go back to the party and enjoy it!” Jimin suggested. “I'm sure you'll have fun!” She tried to cheer the girl up. 

“No… but you should go, unnie. I don't want to keep you here. I'll just wait around here for a little longer and then get a ride home.” Kriesha sounded sure.

“Okay.” Jimin gave in. “Hey, Kriesha.” the older one started. “I think we should hang out more.” She smiled. 

“Definitely.” Kriesha agreed. “Can you just… leave Minjoo's drink here? I already paid for them, might as well consume them.” She shrugged.

“Of course!” Jimin responded. “I don't even like piña colada.” She placed the drink on the center table as well.

“Now, that's just rude.” She said and they both smiled.

“Okay, I'm off.” Jimin said as she opened the door. “You know where to find me.” A couple of seconds later she was gone and Kriesha was left alone in the room.

The girl closed her eyes and leaned back. She wanted to get her phone and text Minjoo. God, she was so mad! It's not like she wanted Minjoo all to herself all the time. On the contrary, she usually encourages or helps her friend getting what she wants. But did she really have to do that  _ today _ ? The day when she had insisted so  _ hard _ that Kriesha came to this party even though she knew all the girl wanted was to do was to stay at home watching some Korean Drama on Netflix and fall asleep?

Well… to be fair, that's an accurate picture of how most of Kriesha's nights have been playing out, so she does admit Minjoo is not wrong when she says the girl needs to go out more. Ever since she came to Korea two years ago, Kriesha didn't make many new friends. It's not that she wasn't sociable, which she was, but maybe she had been a little too focused on her work and getting things done right – no distractions.

I guess Kriesha could say she was happy with the outcome of her professional life, but it took its toll on her without her even realizing so. All of those thoughts suddenly flooded her mind and the girl felt exhausted. She wanted to go home, but even doing that seemed like too much of an effort. So she just stayed there in hopes her nightmare would end soon.

 

* * *

 

“Are you really going to do nothing?” Brian wanted to know, as he took a sip of the soju they ordered at the bar.

“It's, like, what  _ would _ I do?” Jae wondered. “We haven't seen each other in three months.” He stated as they entered the large private room, closing the door behind them. “She has probably moved on by now, like any other normal human being.” 

“Ah! I always knew you weren't normal.” his friend teased, sitting on the couch. “You still like her, don't you?”

“I…” He stopped for a second. “Sometimes I really miss her.” He confessed. “Which is sort of dumb, because if you think about it, we only saw each other, like, three or four times.” He took a sip of his drink and joined his friend on the couch.

“Hyung, don't try to rationalize your feelings. It's not how this works.” Brian made a good point. “And, besides, you have no idea if she really has moved on.” 

“Okay.” Jae put his tiny glass on the center table. “Suppose, like, she hasn't moved on, right?” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, gesticulating with both hands. “I go talk to her. We end up, like, getting together again.” He looked at his friend. “What then?” Jae shrugged. “Hiding and sneaking out from everyone? Lying to the whole world?” 

“You know that's how it is for the life we've chosen.” Brian was being honest.

“Nah, man. But it ain't for me.” Jae thought of what Kriesha said to him the last night they met. “ _ Something tells me you wouldn't be the type to lie to your company, to your fans, to the whole world like that and just be okay about it. _ ” She really was right. “And, also, I feel like it would be too risky, you know? Like, if anyone saw us even standing next to each other, it would be chaotic again.”

“Look, dude, I just think you should do what makes you happy.” His friend stated.

“I am. DAY6 makes me happy.” He drank a shot of his soju. 

“I know. But it's not the only thing.” Brian knew his friend.

“Why can't life just be like one of these parties? Everyone's free here, idols come to these all the time and hook up with anyone they want in these private rooms and no one ever talks about it.” Jae felt frustrated.

"Because life is unfair.” Brian also took a shot of his drink and positioned his glass on the table. “Hyung, I'm gonna go dancing. I think you should tag along. We said we'd come here to celebrate and you don't look like you're celebrating anything.”

“You go. I don't want to run into Kriesha out there.” Jae said.

“So you're just gonna hide here all night long?!” Brian was definitely judging his friend a little.

“I don't know.” Jae said, truthfully. “Look, man, you go. I'll catch you later.” 

Brian was a bit disappointed, but agreed to his hyung's will, leaving Jae alone in the room. 

The boy stayed there for a few more minutes, even took his phone out to check some messages but decided it was best not to, so he just placed the phone next to him on the couch and closed his eyes for a while. Next thing he knew, Sungjin and Dowoon got in with a couple of people they had met at the party and the room suddenly got crowded. He even stayed there for a while and talked to everyone not to seem too anti-social, but at some point he decided to leave and go to the other private room Jimin had reserved for them. 

“JESUS!” Jae yelled and covered his eyes as he opened the door and found Wonpil and Kevin making out on the other side. “DUDE! These things lock!!!!! Please lock!!!!!” 

Both of them shared an embarrassed laughter, which made Jae laugh a little, too. 

“Sorry, hyung!” Wonpil yelled back.

“Yeah, sorry, Jae.” Kevin also replied with an awkward smile, making Wonpil involuntarily place a peck on his cheek. That boy was too cute for his own good. 

“Honestly…” Jae closed the door again, still chuckling. 

The boy was about to give up and face the fact that he would have to stay in the common area and  e ready to socialize with other human beings, but then he remembered Jimin saying that they could also use her private room if they needed to. And Jae needed to, oh-so-desperately. He turned the doorknob, pushing the door in carefully as if to check if it was locked. It wasn't. Score!

Jae spread the door open and as he was stepping inside, he saw her. And she saw him, too.

“Jae?!” Kriesha said, surprise doesn't even cover what she felt. “What?!” The girl's night could not get any harder.

“Kriesha, I–” He stopped mid sentence. “I'm sorry, I should go.”

“No!” She protested involuntarily. “I mean, I was just heading out anyway…” She got up and picked up her purse.

“No, please, don't leave on my account.” Jae said.

“I'm not, I just… it's been a rough night. I'm going home.” Kriesha explained.

“Home? Now? Do you need anything?” He tried being polite.

“A new life.” He heard the girl say in a very low voice.

“Hey…” Jae got a few steps closer to her. “What's wrong?” She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears, which made them sparkle from the reflection of the lights. “Kriesha…”

“Everything.” She felt a tear rolling down her cheek and immediately wiped it. “I can't focus on anything anymore. My parents moved back to San Francisco, I'm on my own for the first time, I've never felt so alone in my entire life.” She sniffed. “My best friend dragged me to a party that I didn't want to go to, but now she ran off to make out with some girl ‘cause her hormones are more important to her than me.” She sighed. “And on top of all that,  _ you _ show up.” 

“What?” Jae was confused. “I'm… sorry?”

“You should be!” Kriesha yelled in frustration, making the boy jump. “You should be sorry, because you're standing there, all perfectly handsome in your oversized plaid shirt, being caring and sweet and serving as a big ass reminder that ever since you left…” Kriesha stopped for a short pause, while she looked at him. “Nothing was the same anymore.”

“Kriesh, I…” Jae took a few steps closer towards her direction, but couldn't complete the sentence. 

“I know. We can't be together.” She firmly stated. “So I should just leave, right?” The girl wiped away her tears again. “It's not like what we had was ever serious anyway.” Kriesha didn't quite know what she wanted to accomplish making that remark. Maybe she wanted him to confirm it, so that she could finally move on; but maybe what she really wanted was for him to tell her she was completely wrong and all he wanted to do was stay by her side.

“What?!” Jae was surprised by her statement. “That's not true.” He got even closer. “Kriesha, these past months have been really hard on me, too.” The boy admitted. “I also haven't been able to focus, at work mostly, which had never happened to me before.” 

“Oh…” It was all she could say.

“Yeah. And everyone keeps telling me I'm acting weird.” He shrugged. “Maybe I am.” 

“But why?” She knew where he was going with it, but she wanted to hear it from him anyway.

“Because no matter what I do.” He took one step forward. “No matter how hard I try.” Another step. “I can't get this crazy, talented, beautiful,  _ very _ short girl off my mind.” Jae smiled and reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers. 

“Hey!” She protested, but also couldn't hold back her smile.

“There's no space left for anything else.” He confessed.

“But I thought–” Before the girl could finish, she was interrupted by the feeling of Jae's lips on hers. He had to do something quick to prove that he was all in. He  needed to prove that he  _ wanted her _ . Kriesha kissed him back right away, immediately wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on the tip of her toes because of the height difference between the two. 

Jae was never one to make the first move, perhaps because he had never before desired something so badly. But when the both of them kissed – as cliche as this will sound, – he felt that everything he ever needed, everything he ever looked for was in that kiss. And that's why he couldn't waste one more second having his lips apart from her's. 

Kriesha didn't feel any different. Every time they were even in the same room, she could feel their chemistry. It was something unreal, unlike anything she had ever experienced before, with anyone. It wasn't a sexual thing, either (though the kissing was great), but it was almost as if they connected on a spiritual level. It was weird how everything just  _ made sense _ when they were in each other's company. Perhaps the reason Kriesha couldn't find a word to describe it was because there was none. Oh, well, some things are better felt than explained, I guess.

“Jae,” She stopped the kiss to conclude her thoughts, but was unable to hide her smile. “I thought you didn't want this.”

“I thought I would be okay eventually and not want this, too.” Jae whispered really close to her face and then kissed her cheek. “Turns out I was wrong.” He smiled. “I was scared you wouldn't want me anymore. I thought you had moved on after all this time.”

“Oh, God.” She took both hands to his face, giggling, and gently pulled him closer so she could kiss him on the lips. “There were so many times when I thought ‘Okay, I am finally starting to move on’. Then all it took was an article related to DAY6, or seeing any of your friends, or even singing some of my own songs for me to realize I wasn't there yet.” She kissed him again. “As much as it hurt, I missed you.” 

Jae didn't know what to say when he heard all that. He didn't know if he was grateful for Kriesha still wanting to be with him or hurt because of all the pain he had caused her. 

“Let's go.” Jae suddenly said.

“What?” The girl sounded confused. “Go where?”

“Anywhere.” He replied, standing up and pulling her by the hand. “Let's get out of here.” 

“Okay.” Kriesha grabbed her purse and followed the boy, leaving the room. “Jae.” She quietly said. “I don't think we should be seen holding hands.” She tried to let go, but he held on even tighter.

“Maybe not.” He agreed. “But that won't stop me. Not tonight.” 

They could feel some eyes on them, but most people were either too drunk or too high or genuinely not giving a fuck about the two of them. They exchanged looks and smiled at each other. 

As they passed by their friends, they got a few different reactions: Dowoon elbowed Sungjin to show them what he was looking at, and they both waved at Jae and Kriesha; Wonpil and Kevin were dancing, but suddenly stopped when they saw the couple holding hands. Wonpil opened the biggest smile and clapped cheerfully, while Kevin smiled at his friend, nodding his head as if he was silently congratulating them; Minjoo's mouth literally fell open and her eyes widened – Kriesha swears she saw the girl mouthing “tell me everything”.

“Ah, damn.” Jae said, putting his hand in his pocket, searching for something.

“What?” Kriesha asked.

“My phone. I left it in one of those private rooms.” He explained. “I'll be right back.”

“I'll come with!” As lame as that sounds, Kriesha didn't want to let go of the boy's hand. 

They made their way back to the room and, as soon as they opened the door, they had a little surprise.

“What?!” Jae was in shock.

“Oh, my God!” Kriesha immediately took her hands to her face, but she didn't know if she should cover her mouth or her eyes.

Either way, neither of them could hide their laughter.

“What?!” Jae asked  _ again _ . “Dude…  _ what?! _ ” He couldn't stop laughing. 

“Hi.” Brian had a totally awkward smile on his face, but still managed to giggle.

“Oh, my God.” Jimin said, curling up her legs as if she was ashamed of doing something wrong. “This isn't happening.” She covered her face with both hands.” They had been kissing, both sitting on the floor with a couple bottles of soju lying next to them. 

“Dude, no one's judging.” Jae said, still chuckling. “I just came here to grab my phone.” He made his way to the couch and saw the device where he had left, putting it back on his pocket. “Actually, I think this is great.” He turned to Kriesha. “Don't you think this is great?!”

“I definitely do!” She was still struggling to hold the laughter in.

“I actually kinda think so, too.” Brian said, turning to face Jimin. 

“Shut up!” The girl slapped his arm, but finally gave in and also started laughing. “I–” She struggled to find words. “But, hey! You two are together?!” A desperate attempt to change the subject, but truth is she was also actually curious.

“Yeah.” Jae wrapped his arm around Kriesha. “We are.” 

“We got to talking… and, well… this happened.” She was kinda shy talking about it, so her cheeks got all pink.

“That's really nice.” Jimin said, honestly. “I'm really happy for you guys.”

“Yeah,” Brian agreed. “You deserve happiness, hyung. And Kriesha-ssi.” 

“Well, I should say I'm happy for you guys, too! Cheers to the happy couple!” Jae teased. 

“Jae, don't make me throw this glass bottle of soju at you.” Jimin threatened. 

“Brian, please take care of your woman!” He said, making Kriesha and his friend chuckle. 

Jimin picked up one of the empty bottles.

“Sorry, Kriesha.” She looked at the girl. “But I might have to kill your boyfriend tonight.” 

Though she managed to say it with a straight face, Jimin couldn't keep it up for a long time and the four of them burst into laughter again. 

“Well, this has been  _ extremely _ fun.” Jae stated. “But we should go.”

“You think?!” Jimin rolled her eyes. 

“We'll let you kids get back to what you were doing.” Jae winked and made his way towards the door. 

“Bye, guys!” Kriesha exclaimed. “By the way, I'm totally shipping it.” Brian let out an audible laughter.

“Oh, God.” Jimin hid her face again. 

“Stop, just come here.” He pulled the girl closer and kissed her cheek. “I'm also shipping it.” She elbowed him. “Ouch!”

“You need to stop being so f–” Jimin got interrupted when Brian placed a sudden kiss on her lips. “What'd you do that for?!”

“Literally the only way to shut you up.” Brian said, already ducking, since he expected an attack from the girl. 

“Asshole!” She laughed. “But I'll take that.” She leaned in and kissed him back. 

Jae and Kriesha realized they were both still standing at the door watching the couple's dynamic and finding everything so amusing. They looked at each other and agreed they should probably just leave.

Leaving the club, they decided to go to Kriesha's place – Jae figured the DAY6 dorm was most likely messy enough to scare her off. He hailed them a cab outside since it was too late to take the subway and, even though they really wanted to be somewhere where it could finally be just the two of them, it felt nice just being near each other again after all that time. Even though Kriesha lived far from the club they were at, the ride home was quicker than expected. Maybe because they were so comfortable just talking and laughing with each other that they didn't even notice the time go by.

“We're here.” Kriesha said as she locked the door behind them and took off her heavy coat, realizing Jae was doing the same.

“Yes.” He put his coat on a chair. “Here we are.” The boy pulled her closer by the hand and, because of how surprised she was, the girl let out a very short, but very high pitched scream, making them both giggle.

“Jae!” She laughed. “God, I missed you.” Kriesha took her free hand to the side of his face, caressing his cheek with her thumb. “All these months, I just… I missed you.”

Jae leaned in and kissed her lips.

“I missed you, too.” He kissed her again. “A lot.” And again. She chuckled. “Really, a whole f—” 

Kriesha pulled him closer and kissed him, interrupting the boy, mid sentence (a little payback for earlier, I must say). Jae immediately responded by parting his lips to make way for hers, taking his hands to her waist while she wrapped her arms around his neck the best she could, given their height difference. 

Whenever they kissed, it was like they forgot all about their worries, living in a moment of complete and utter bliss. No one else existed, just the two of them. There were no disappointed CEOs, no angry netizens, no worried or overprotective best friends, no “DAY6 Jae” or “Idol Kriesha Chu”… it was just Jae and Kriesha, purely and simply as that, sharing that one heartfelt moment. 

As the kiss intensified, their heartbeats got a little faster, their cheeks blushed from the blood that was running fast through their veins, their bodies began to emanate heat until tiny drops of sweat surfaced on their warm skin. They were both short on breath, but neither of them even slightly indicated they wanted to stop. 

Oxygen is totally overrated. 

Jae pulled Kriesha's body closer, taking some action and terminating the empty space between the two. If it was possible to gasp inside a kiss, that would've been the girl's response. She felt his hands going from her waist to her back, where he gently (and at times, very aggressively) caressed her low back, sending shivers down her spine. 

Without even noticing, Kriesha began to move towards her bedroom and Jae followed, barely ever parting lips from her. At some point, though, the girl turned around to open the door, making Jae involuntarily hug her from behind. The boy took her hair off her neck and shoulder, so he could press his lips against her bare skin; she smelled like happiness. Like a lazy afternoon spent doing what you love the most in the world.

As they entered her room, Jae made his way to her bed and sat on it, pulling her closer and realizing he needed (for the first time ever) to look up at her. 

“Kriesha, I…” Jae said, but the girl took her fingers to his lips, stopping the boy from saying anything. 

“Let's not think about anything right now.” She suggested. “Let's just… be.” 

The boy nodded as she leaned in, engaging once again in a kiss. Jae instantly took his hands to her back and Kriesha ran her nails on his arms, slightly scratching it. As the kiss deepened, things got accordingly more intense between the two and their hearts once again started dancing to an upper beat, their tongues also following the same tempo. 

After a few minutes, Jae felt the need to gasp for air, so the boy parted their lips, but was unable to keep them off the girl's skin, so he kissed neck for a while. When he did, Jae heard the girl letting out a semi quiet moan, which he liked very much, which made him decide to try something new. 

“God, Jae…” Kriesha said as she felt the gentle bite the boy had left on her neck. 

“Is that okay?” He asked. 

“That's gr—” He did it again. “Asshole.” 

They shared a quick giggle and Jae went back to kissing her neck, then her jawline, then finally her lips again. His fingers were adding some pressure on Kriesha's low back and waist. At some point, as the situation got even more heated, Jae's hand went a little lower and caressed the girl's bottom, even squeezing it a little.  Kriesha's legs suddenly felt too weak to hold the weight of her body, so she let herself loose, leaning on Jae as the boy slowly laid on his back, automatically laying herself on top of him. 

“Ow!” He said as she unintentionally ended up kneeing him.

“Oh! I'm sorry!” They both laughed at the situation, as Kriesha reached for the lamp on her nightstand, turning it on to make sure things were alright.

“It's okay.” He took her hair off her face, enjoying the dim light so that he could take a good look at her. “Everything's perfect.” She smiled. God, that smile. 

Before they even realized it, their lips found their way back to each other. Kriesha found herself unbuttoning his shirt to take it off; a move with which Jae was totally onboard for, even helping her do it. As the girl was still lying on top of him, she was sliding her hand on his now-bare chest when she felt his erection rising from his jeans.

“Jae…” She suddenly stopped, rolling a little to Jae's side.

“Ah… Okay.” He was taking heavy breaths. “I'm sorry, I don't wanna push you.” 

“No, it's not that…” She felt him looking at her, expecting her to finish. “I just… I'm scared I won't be very good at it.” 

He smiled. 

“Impossible.” He meant it, kissing her cheek right after. “Kriesh…” he took her hand and held it closer to his chest. “I won't push you to do anything you're not ready for, but if that's what you're scared of…” He kissed her hand. “You shouldn't be. We're in this together.” He kissed her lips.

Kriesha kissed him back as she let go of his hand and took hers to the back of his neck, running her fingers through his hair. The girl nodded, as if she was trying to say she agreed with him. Suddenly, he rolled over to stay on top of her, provoking some giggles. 

“And besides,” he kissed her lips. “We have plenty of time.” Now, her cheek. “To get to know each other in that sense.” Her jawline. He smiled and placed a soft kiss on her neck. “For example.” Jae looked at her. “I think we've made some discoveries tonight already.” He took his lips to her neck again, giving it a gentle bite and making the girl, once again, moan.

Kriesha lied there, (semi) quietly, feeling like at any given moment she could burst for wanting him to have her so badly. That's when she felt a wave of courage and reached for Jae's hand, taking it and running it along her own body, till it reached the bottom of her dress. Scared to death and barely able to maintain eye contact, Kriesha placed the boy's hand over her underwear; the fabric dampened from wetness. 

“I want you.” She managed to say. “So bad.” 

Jae was usually so shy when it came to these kinds of things, but he just felt so at ease with her that everything just came naturally; nothing felt too scary or awkward between them.

“I don't know if I'm any good at it either, but I just wanna make you feel good, okay?” He began making round movements over the area she had placed his hand on, making her even more aroused. “That's all I care about.” She nodded. 

Jae kissed her lips again, but quickly went down to her cleavage, always waiting for some kind of permission for him to move forward. He slowly lowered her dress with his free hand, getting some help from the girl herself. Meanwhile, the boy kept touching her and as the fabric of her dress was coming off, he followed every inch of her bare skin with his lips, letting Kriesha feel his breath on her body. God, she wanted him  _ so bad _ . 

The girl still had a strapless bra on, which Jae did not attempt to take off at that moment, he just focused on removing her dress. When he finally did, the boy placed a kiss on her stomach, right underneath her belly button, making her shiver. 

Kriesha felt the boy attempting to tease her as he took his lips to her inner thigh, but somehow he ended up being in a really weird position and tangling himself around her legs. 

“Jae!” She laughed as he straightened himself up. “What's going on there?” 

“All good, all good.” He also chuckled, but quickly went back to what he was doing before, causing the girl to bite her lower lip. 

Kriesha looked down as she felt a new touch between her legs, the boy teasing with the tip of his fingers.

“Take them off.” She begged. She had no idea where that came from, but was pleased to see the boy promptly followed her request. 

Maybe he was too eager or too worried about what to do, but not 2 seconds later, Kriesha jumped as she felt the boy's lips touching her. She immediately closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting out yet another moan, but this one wasn't very quiet at all. Jae reached out for her hand and intertwined their fingers, feeling the girl tightening up her grip as he slowly intensified as the minutes went by. 

“That's… so good.” She cried, making him even more turned on. Kriesha took her free hand to the boy's head, running her fingers through his hair and pulling it at times, feeling her muscles contracting, involuntarily. “God, Jae…” Her heart began to race, her face was red and sweaty, but the boy did not seem tired at all. 

Jae was all acting and no thinking at that moment, which is something quite uncommon to occur. He was there, fully present, his only goal was to please that girl – and from the way she had been reacting to his moves, he could tell that he was definitely succeeding. 

“Ah!” Kriesha screamed, spreading her legs wider. “God, yes!” She squeezed his hand. “Oh, God…” She held onto her bedspread  firmly. “Fuck… God, fuck yes!” Jae was a little surprised since he had never seen her curse, but ultimately he was very pleased with himself. “Oh… God…” Kriesha arched her body as the words slowly started to fade from her mouth, her voice completely gone and her whole body contracting, as if she had absolutely no control over it. And for those few seconds, she really didn't. 

The girl finally let go of her body, feeling every single cell in her being relax at the very same time. Jae wrapped it up, moving back while kissing her skin all the way up, feeling the girl's heavy breathing. 

“Hey.” He whispered in her ear, pressing his lips against her neck. 

“Hey.” She responded. “That was…” Words failed her. “Are you sure you had never done that before?” She bit her lower lip and they both silently chuckled. 

Even though her question was pretty much rhetorical, Jae nodded “yes” before pressing his lips against hers and engaging once again in a passionate kiss. The taste was different now; even the rate was something else. Their bodies pressed together, figuring out each other's pace and making sure to follow it. For a while there, all their inhibitions were gone, as if they never existed in the first place. 

Kriesha used both hands to unbutton Jae's jeans and slid one of them inside so she could feel his erection through the fabric of his underwear. Jae helped Kriesha by completely taking off his pants (and shoes, which he realized he was still wearing up to that point) as the girl ran her hands along his bottom and quickly moved to the front, firmly grabbing his penis as if she knew what she was doing with it, when truth is she had no idea. The boy didn't seem to mind at all, though, as she felt him gasping while at last removing her bra.

Jae pulled their lips apart, gasping and kissing one side of Kriesha's face softly and repeatedly. As the girl continued to touch him, moving her wrist up and down, it got harder and harder for Jae to breathe or even function properly. 

"Ah…" He let out a sigh close to the girl's ear. "Wait a second." He whispered. 

"Did I do something wrong?" The girl widened her eyes, worried she might've hurt him, but he shook his head.

"No, you're perfect." He kissed her quickly and sat up on the bed, reaching for his jeans that were lying on the floor.

"Jae, what are you doing?" She also sat up and saw him opening his wallet to take out a condom. "Ah…" It made sense now. She even felt a little stupid for not thinking about it before, but as she waited for him to remove his underwear and put it on, Kriesha went to Jae, kneeling on the bed and hugging the boy from behind over his shoulders. As she felt her skin against his, she began pressing long, hot kisses on his neck and jawline, making him a little shaky. "So you just carry them around?" She softly bit his earlobe. "Are you sure that thing's not expired?" They both chucked. 

"Positive." He responded as he finished up putting it on and turned around to face Kriesha, going for a kiss and ready to lie back on top of her, but the girl shook her head.

"Nope." She playfully said. "It's my turn now." She pulled the boy in, lying him with his back to the mattress as she climbed on top, placing him between her legs. 

Jae just laid there, promptly obeying her orders and taking a good look at her. Not to be a total cliche, but God, the way the moonlight was piercing through the window and reflecting on her eyes made Jae's heart skip a beat. The girl leaned forward and kissed his chest, running her hands along his body until she reached his penis. Jae could feel it throbbing as Kriesha, now sitting up, began to slowly place it inside her, taking her own pace and figuring out the best position for them.

"Ah…" Jae said as soon as he felt it sliding inside her.

"Yeah…" She agreed, smirking.

Kriesha didn't feel any pain; perhaps she was lubricated enough, or maybe she just felt so comfortable with him that all the tension disappeared. Jae felt so much pleasure that he was scared he wouldn't be able to last for long. He took both hands to the girl's thighs and grabbed them firmly as she moved on top of him, finding a rhythm they mutually enjoyed. They began to gradually speed things up, feeling their bodies quickly heating up from the exercise; Kriesha leaned her head back and closed her eyes so she could focus on what her body was feeling. Jae, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off of her. 

"Oh, God…" He quietly said as he felt the girl's movements. "Holy shit." He really wasn't going to hold it in for much longer. "Ah!" Kriesha was now biting her lower lip, feeling the boy's short nails scratching her thighs and enjoying it. She felt Jae would burst at any minute, but unlike him and although she felt really good, she knew she was nowhere near an orgasm. However, the boy's moans were a good way to keep her aroused. She wanted him to climax. And she wanted to be the reason. 

Kriesha got  _ inspired _ ; she leaned forward and started kissing and sucking on his neck as she continued to move up and down. 

"God, Kriesha…" Jae cried, feeling as if he was about to explode. The girl kept on doing her work, she truly was driving him crazy. "Ah…" He felt it coming; she sucked on his neck one more time, the taste of his skin was a little salty from sweating, but she didn't mind. "Ah! Fuck!" Kriesha felt it when the boy finally let go, relaxing his body after so much tension. 

Kriesha kissed him again, pressing her lips against his for a little while before also letting go and moving out, rolling to his side. 

"What?!" Jae's breathing was heavy. He turned his head to face her. "What was that?!" They both shared a laughter. 

"I was surprised, too." Kriesha confessed. She curled up to his side, both of them completely undressed in the dim light. 

"I'm not complaining." He smirked. "At all." He adjusted himself on her bed, and with her help, they were now under the blankets. Jae wrapped his arm around the girl and placed another kiss on her lips. 

They lied there for a while, both of them lost in their own thoughts; perhaps still processing everything that had just happened. Kriesha hugged him, as if she was trying to move even closer to him. Meanwhile, Jae was running the tip of his fingers along the girl's back and remembered the first time he had done that. Three months ago. Just before they ended things with each other. He couldn't believe how happy he was to have her in his arms right now.

"So…" The girl broke the silence. "You just casually carry condoms around waiting for an opportunity or…?" He laughed. 

"Are you jealous?" Jae teased. "Nah, that's not it."

"Then what is it?" She really wanted to know.

"Man… I hope you don't take this the wrong way…" He was defensive. Kriesha kept looking at him, waiting for an explanation. "Remember the first time I came over? We started kissing and things got a little heated and then we stopped?" She nodded. "Well, that day was actually when I got them." She raised an eyebrow. "I mean… it's not that I was just expecting you to sleep with me, but it was kinda the first time in a long time since I actually wanted to sleep with someone." He was being honest. "So, yeah, I kinda hoped it would happen, but of course I would never push you or anything." 

"God, Jae…" She buried her face in the blanket for a few seconds. "You're such a girl!" They laughed. "But I like it." She kissed his shoulder.

"Of course, I didn't think any of this chaos would happen…" He sighed.

"Yeah…" Kriesha agreed. "These past three months were… odd. There were times when I didn't even feel like myself." 

Jae nodded in agreement.

"I get what that's like." He kissed the top of her head. "I was so mad at myself because I could barely focus on work." He explained. "And every song I wrote… were about you. About us. Or the lack thereof." 

"I'm sorry…" She didn't exactly know what to say. 

"No. It's not your fault, babe." Jae said. Kriesha didn't want to be one of those girls, but truth is her heart skipped a beat when she heard him call her "babe". He took his hand to her chin, gently holding her face up and placing a peck on her lips. Jae smiled, as if trying to show it was alright. "Hey, back in the club… you said something about your parents moving back to San Francisco?" 

"Ah, yes…" The girl explained her dad was having trouble finding a job that paid well and her profit as an idol also wasn't that good, so they opted to move back to San Francisco, since her dad was offered his job back. 

From then on, Kriesha and Jae started to share stories from the past months, as if to catch up and erase the time they spent apart – which they hoped wouldn't happen again. The thing is, they had no idea what they were supposed to do next. 

As their bodies and minds were completely exhausted, it didn't take very long until they both fell asleep in each other's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave kudos or comments so that I know you're enjoying!  
> It's really important to me and it makes me more enthusiastic to keep writing it! <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I would like to apologize for taking so long to update this fanfiction!!   
> Truth is, classes in grad school are ending and I need to finish my thesis, so that's what I have mostly been working on.  
> I promise, I will try as hard as I can to not take too long to post the next chapter!!!   
> Hope you guys enjoy it ♡
> 
> Don't forget to comment and leave kudos!!

Kriesha opened her eyes and saw Jae sitting up, getting himself dressed.

“Hey.” She said smiling, in a morning, lazy tone. “Good morning.” 

Jae turned around as soon as he heard her voice. 

“Good morning, babe.” He leaned in, smiling, and gently kissed her lips. “You should go back to sleep. It’s still early, considering the time we went to bed last night.”

“You mean the time we went to  _ sleep _ last night.” They giggled. “Are you leaving already? Do you have schedule today?” She asked in the middle of a yawn, brushing her eyes. If you’re thinking that Jae thought she looked even more beautiful like that, sleepy and with no makeup on, you’re right. He was so damn smitten. The view made him smile.

“Not really. And no, I’m not leaving. I was gonna get us something to eat.” He explained. 

“Humm, I’d be down for that.” She said in a still hoarse voice, closing her eyes and imagining the food. “Are you going to cook for me?” She smiled, looking pleased.

“How do you feel about some eggs, toast and coffee?” He asked. “That’s as far as I’ll go when it comes to cooking.” He was honest. 

“Sounds perfect.” She giggled.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips and made his way out. 

Kriesha lied there, smiling to herself, thoughts of the previous night flooding her mind. Her heart raced and her face blushed from her most recent memories.

After a couple of minutes, Kriesha grabbed her phone – which took a while to find, since she had no idea where she’d left her purse last night. 

  


**_< Messages from Minmin ♡>_ **

  


**_Unnieeeee, I’m so sorry about last night_ **

**_I shouldn’t have left you like that_ **

**_I’m sorry I’m a horrible friend_ **

**_It’ll never happen again_ **

**_I promise_ **

**_But like…_ **

**_I saw you left with Jae sunbaenim_ **

**_You gotta tell me what happened_ **

**_I’m dying here ㅠㅠ_ **

  


Yeah, Kriesha was still mad at Minjoo. She would definitely talk to her friend at some point, but not now. 

  


**_< Message from Jimin unnie>_ **

  


**_Hey, Kriesha!! Just checking in. Also, I wanna apologize for last night. Again. I’m sorry you had to see that._ ** **🙈** ****

  


It was adorable how embarrassed she was, even though there was nothing to be embarrassed about. 

  


**_You: There’s nothing to apologize for, unnie!_ **

**_You: And everything’s okay with me._ **

**_You: Actually, everything’s great._ **

**_You: ♡_ **

  


**_Jimin unnie: I’m glad._ **

**_Jimin unnie: Hey..._ **

**_Jimin unnie: I’m rooting for you._ **

  


Jamie was one of a kind. Kriesha smiled, wholeheartedly. 

  


**_You: Thank you._ **

**_You: ♡_ **

  


**_“_ ** Breakfast in bed or are you heading out to the kitchen?” Jae half-opened the door to ask. 

“Oh, God, no, I don’t want crums on my bed. I’ll be right out.” Kriesha responded.

“I should really introduce you to Sungjin.” Kriesha furrowed her eyebrows hearing Jae’s remark as he left the room again.

The girl found her underwear somewhere between the sheets and put it on, as well as an old t-shirt and stay-at-home shorts. She made her way to the kitchen and saw Jae preparing them (a very plain, but very lovely) breakfast. 

“Hey, Master Chef.” Kriesha joked, giving him a back hug.

“Hey.” Jae smiled instantly, scrambling the eggs in the frying pan. 

The girl let him go, as she took to her mouth a slice of cheese she’d found on the counter. 

“I’m hungry.” She stated, sitting at the table, trying to watch Jae working his magic.

“It’s almost ready.” He said, putting the scrambled eggs in a bowl. 

“Do you need some help?” The girl offered. 

“Nope, I can do it.” Jae gathered up the items, attempting to take everything at once. He obviously failed, provoking some laughter on both of them until the boy managed to fully set the table. 

“Ah, finally!” Kriesha clapped in celebration. “Now we can eat.” She didn’t even wait for Jae to sit down before she grabbed her toast.

As he watched her, it was impossible for Jae to hold back his smile. That girl was something else. 

“Hey, don’t you know the saying ‘you can’t rush genius’?” Jae quickly answered back.

“I do, yes, but how exactly does it apply to our situation?” She tried. “I don’t really see any geniuses…” The girl narrowed her eyes, as if she was searching for something. Shortly after, Kriesha burst out laughing. 

“You’re mean! That’s not how I remember you. Have you been secretly hanging out with Jimin all this time?” Jae teased.

“No, I’m just so much wiser and wittier now.” The girl winked at him and giggled.

After that, they both ate silently for a while. Perhaps both of them lost in their own minds, thinking how the hell did they manage to spend so much time apart from each other. 

Jae was making an effort not to stare at Kriesha all the time during their meal, but truth is he was failing. Hard. They weren’t even saying anything, but whenever their eyes would cross, they would smile at each other and feel their heartbeats quickly losing its peaceful pace. All it took was one look. One look and their hearts were dancing inside their own chests. 

“Hey.” Kriesha suddenly broke the silence. 

“Yeah?” Jae looked at her. Not that he wasn’t looking before.

“So…” She paused for a couple of seconds. “Where do we go from here?”

“Anywhere.” His response was immediate, but he said it in a playful tone.

“I’m serious, Jae.” She sighed. “How can this happen?”

“I don’t know.” He answered, honestly. “I have no idea. But I don’t…” He reached out to touch her hand. “I don’t want to lose this...” He said. “Us. I want there to be an ‘us’, I want this to happen.”

“Me too.” Kriesha intertwined their fingers and showed him a bittersweet smile. “But what if we can’t?” Jae knew the girl made a good point, but he didn’t want to think about it. Not today. He didn’t have any schedule for the day, so all he wanted to do was enjoy his time and spend it with Kriesha.

“It’ll be okay.” He pulled her hand closer and placed a gentle kiss on it. “I promise.”

Jae knew he was making a promise that he wasn’t sure to keep and it made his chest feel heavy. Nevertheless, he truly wished for it to be true.

Hours flew by when the two were together. Amidst gentle innocent kisses, full Rated R make out sessions, lazy harmonizing on the couch and endlessly teasing each other, Kriesha and Jae felt truly, genuinely happy for the first time in a while. So much had happened in those past three months, so many changes they both had to deal with, and yet it felt like they had put their lives on hold until the moment they met again in that club.

Jae was monopolizing the girl’s guitar while they sang along together to some of their favorite songs. It was nice realizing that even though their musical taste was not all that compatible, they had some common ground to walk on.

“Shut up!” Kriesha exclaimed. “You can’t be serious!” She covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her smile. 

“If anyone asks, Wonpil and I wrote it together for our fans.” Jae said, right after singing Stop Being Cute for Kriesha, revealing he had actually written some parts of the lyrics thinking of her. “I think we’ll perform it on our fanmeeting in September.”

“You wouldn’t even be lying, though, I  _ am _ a fan.” She leaned in and kissed the boy’s lips.

“Of my lips? Yes, I’m aware.” The boy said, jokingly, and repeated her gesture. 

“No, for real! I’m actually a huge fan, Jae sunbaenim.” She jokingly added the honorific, which made him laugh. “DAY6 is insanely good.” Kriesha confessed. “You know, I remember when I auditioned for Kpop Star and Young K sunbaenim was there. I was already so nervous and knowing he was in the audience made me even more nervous.” 

“Oh, wow, I didn’t know that.” Jae said, playing with the girl’s hair and putting it behind her ear.

“He’s so good–”

“Yeah, he is.” Jae agreed.

“–looking.” Kriesha completed.

“What?” Jae widened his eyes and the girl laughed. 

“What? He is. And he’s also good at everything else.” She said, affirmatively.

“Are you  _ trying  _ to make me jealous?” Jae asked. “‘Cause, like, you’re totally succeeding.” They both giggled. 

“No.” She kissed him again. “But I am trying to prove I’m a true fan.” She continued. “Speaking of which, there’s this one song that I really like…” Kriesha started. “It goes something like this…” She looked at him and started singing a snippet of I Like You, by DAY6.

  


_ 이 말을 하고 나면 그대와 난 다시 _

_ 지금처럼 웃는 얼굴로 _

_ 다시 돌아갈 수 있을지 모르겠지만 _

_ 그래도 해야겠어요 _

_ 난 그대를 _

  


_ (Trans: _

_ After I tell you these words _

_ I’m not sure if we can go back _

_ To smiling like we are now _

_ But I have to, I) _

  


Jae got so surprised that it took him a while to catch up with her and start playing the song on the guitar. As much as he wanted to hear her sing, he also wanted her to hear him saying those words. So he joined her, not even worrying about harmonizing, just following her key and smiling all along.

  


_ 좋아합니다 _

_ 참으려 해봤지만 _

_ 더는 안되겠어요 _

_ 이제야 말할 수 있겠어요 _

_ 사랑하고 싶어요 _

  


_ (Trans:  _

_ I Like you _

_ I tried holding it back _

_ But I can’t anymore _

_ Now I can tell you _

_ I want to love) _

  


They both paused for a second. 

  


_ 그댈 _

  


_ (Trans: You) _

  


Jae said, alone. No sound was made on the guitar either. 

“God, Jae, you are so beautiful.” Kriesha confessed. She couldn’t help but be in awe of how outstanding that boy was. When she said he was beautiful, she didn’t just mean “handsome”. She meant actually beautiful. Wholeheartedly beautiful. She could see through his soul, and it was breathtaking. Everything about Jae was absolutely stunning. Even the annoying parts, even the flaws she still hadn’t seen, but was eager to. Everything was just… beautiful.

“And, again, you’re crazy.” Jae laughed.

“Yeah… Crazy in love with you.” Kriesha let it escape under her breath.

“What?!” The boy widened his eyes.

“What?!” She repeated, using her hands to cover her mouth. “I… I mean…”

“Kriesha…” Jae looked at her, not knowing what to say next.

“Well, there’s no going back now, is there?” The girl said, completely faking her chill. “I guess that’s it.” She shrugged. “I’m in love with you.” She smiled at him. “I love you, Jae.” 

“I…” The boy was caught off guard. He was barely functional at that moment. “I still think you’re crazy. Maybe now more than ever.” He said and they both laughed. “But I love you too.” Jae put aside the guitar, that was still resting on his lap. “I don’t know how that happened so fast, but I think I’ve loved you for a while.” He said as he approached her, taking his hand to the side of her face, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb.

“I get that.” The girl agreed, closing her eyes as she felt them filling up with tears. 

“I want to be with you.” Jae whispered, his lips less than an inch away from hers. “Be yours.” They could feel each other’s heavy breathing. “Please be mine, too.” 

“I already am, stupid.” Kriesha said as she ended the space between them, pressing her lips against his, in a desperate attempt to have the boy all to herself. 

Jae kissed her back, feeling the salty taste of a single tear that rolled down Kriesha’s cheek the moment their lips met. Though the kiss was great, Jae felt the need to interrupt it.

“Babe, are you okay?” He asked and she melted. God, she was still not used to hearing him call her that. 

“I’m fine.” She answered, staying still for a second. “Actually, I’m not.” She rested her hand on Jae’s chest and looked at him. “How can I be fine when I don’t know what’s gonna happen to us?” She took her hand to the back of his neck and joined their foreheads together. “I’m scared, Jae.”

“Me too.” He replied in all honesty. “But I told you. It’s gonna be fine.”

“You don’t know that.” She was right.

“Yes, I do.” He kissed her lips. “It’ll be alright.” He took his hand to her chin, lifting her head up so she could face him. “As long as you’re mine.” Kriesha smiled.

“As long as you’re mine.” She repeated.

Neither of them ever imagined feeling like this. Not that they thought they would never fall in love or have someone love them back; that possibility was actually within the realms of reality. They just didn’t think love would feel like this. Love was something you read about on novels or watched on dramas, accompanied by those same old cliches of belonging together and universe perfectly aligning to show the main couple they’re meant to be. 

Well, in their case the universe did not send that message at all. In fact, if it was up to the universe, they would most likely not even be together. Everything was against them, you see. None of the circumstances were in their favor. And yet they felt like they were on some sort of magnetic field, where their own bodies were drawn to each other and there was nothing they could do about it. Or rather, there was nothing they wanted to do to fight it.

  


* * *

  


“Jae hyung!” Wonpil greeted the boy as he walked into their apartment.

“Hey, Pillie.” Jae responded, taking off his coat and locking the door.

“We weren’t sure if you were coming home today.” The younger said, opening a bag of chips and taking one to his mouth.

“Yeah… since we don’t have any schedule, we figured you and Kriesha had a lot of… catching up to do.” Brian explained.

“What, y’all are trying to get rid of me now?” Jae messed with them.

“Well, I didn’t want you to find out this way, but Dowoon  _ did  _ sleep on your bed while you were gone.” Brian confessed.

“Ah!” The older boy took his hand to his chest, pretending to be hurt. “I see…” He dropped his weight on the couch, next to Wonpil, and stole one of his chips.

“Hey!” Wonpil complained. 

“Hyung, you’re here.” Dowoon said getting out of the bathroom, his lower body wrapped in a towel as he made his way to his bedroom so he could put on some clothes.

“Yo.” Jae replied. “Where’s Bob?” 

“He had schedule, a VLive.” Brian informed.

“Oh… okay.” The oldest hesitated.

“Why?” Wonpil wanted to know.

“I just… There’s something I need to say to you. All of you.” 

“Okay, I’m listening.” Brian raised an eyebrow, intrigued.  

“Maybe we should wait for Sungjin.” Jae tried to avoid having the said needed conversation at that moment.

“Hyung, you can talk to him later. Just talk to us. We’re worried.” Brian requested.

Dowoon made his way back to the living room and sat on the floor, in front of the couch where the others were sitting. The older boy looked at his friends and sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. 

“I’m in love with her.” He shrugged, half smiling. “I don’t know how else to put it.” 

“Yeah… but like… we kinda knew that already?” Wonpil replied in a questioning tone, making Jae quietly laugh. 

“Yeah. I figured.” He opened his eyes and sat up straight. “The thing is, I don’t wanna let this go.” 

“Nor should you.” Brian was trying to be supportive of his friend. “We can figure out some ways for you guys to meet in between schedules and we can make up excuses in case anyone ever sees you together again.” 

“Yeah, hyung.” Dowoon added. “Things have quieted down, people ended up believing you were just friends, so I suppose it would be okay for friends to hang out, right?”

“You just should be extra careful when going to or leaving her place. That would definitely make people wonder.” Brian stated.

“No.” Jae firmly said. “Guys. I don’t wanna have to hide anymore.” He continued, seeing the horrified, confused looks on the other boys’ faces. “I wanna be with Kriesha and I want us to be out in the open.”

“What?!” Wonpil asked, shocked.

“I wanna tell everyone we’re together.” He said one more time.

“What?” They were all so focused on the conversation that none of them noticed Sungjin’s arrival. “You wanna what?!”

“I…” Jae started, not knowing exactly how to finish.

“Hyung, that’s a bad idea.” Wonpil said.

“A terrible idea.” Sungjin added. 

“That’s like Wonpil hyung coming out as gay on live national television and saying he hooked up with Kevin bad.” Dowoon completed and everyone looked at him. “Okay, maybe not  _ that _ bad, but still.” 

“Please, guys… try to understand.” Jae begged. “I can’t just—”

“No, Jae,  _ you _ try to understand.” Sungjin interrupted. “You know the consequences to this. You know who ends up getting hurt in the process.” 

“So y’all expect me to lie? That’s it?” The boy shook his head. “You expect me to sneak around and never go out with her in public and just… hide from everyone?” His eyes kept shifting around to each one of his friends, who probably looked as lost as they felt.

“And you expect us to be okay with this decision?” Wonpil sounded both scared and angry. “Hyung, you’d be putting yourself at risk, your career, everything you’ve worked so hard for.” 

“You’d be putting… DAY6 at risk.” Brian said, taking a short pause between the words. “I never thought you would wanna do that.”

“Hey. No. I don’t… I would never… I just…” Jae couldn’t find the words. “I choose DAY6. You guys are my family, the stage is my home. I’ll always choose DAY6.” He sighed. “But you guys saw how hard it was for me to stay away.” 

“No one’s saying you should stop seeing her.” Sungjin said. “You can even tell Manager Lee, I’m pretty sure he’d cover for you once he knows what’s going on.” 

“That’s… not the point.” Jae was about to give up. “I can’t do it. I can’t, like, look our fans in the eyes knowing I’m keeping something like this from them, you know?” He leaned forward on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees, gesticulating while he spoke. “And not because I think I owe them anything, ‘cause I know I don’t. I mean, they might not be a part of my personal life, but they’re a huge part of my life. So I want to share this with them, you know?” Jae took one hand to his chest. “I want to have a trustworthy relationship with them.” He shook his head. “Does that even make sense to y’all? ‘Cause I’m trying to explain, but I don’t know if it’s coming out right.” 

“Oh, we understand.” Wonpil said. “You  _ want _ to tell everyone, so we should just agree and start handing out job applications.” He said sarcastically, which wasn’t really like him. 

“Hyung, you know that’s not how it works.” Sungjin tried to talk some sense into his friend. “You  _ know _ that things won’t work out the way you’re making your brain believe they will.” 

“And you know you’ll end up hurting yourself. And us.” Brian pointed out. 

And yes, Jae knew. He knew all of that and yet he chose to be hopeful. He chose to believe things could be different, that he could be happy both professionally and romantically. Well, judging by the reality crash he was getting from his members at the moment, he could tell it was definitely just wishful thinking.

“You should let it go.” Sungjin bluntly said. “You know I love you, dude, but I really can’t support you on that.” 

“I agree with Sungjin.” Brian raised his hand, as if it was up for voting.

“Definitely. It would be crazy, hyung.” Wonpil emphasized.

“I’m not saying it wouldn’t be hard. I’m just saying… why does it have to be impossible?” Jae felt his eyes filling up with tears, but he refused to cry again in front of everyone. “Look, maybe we should just… sleep. We’ll talk some other time.”

“Hyung… we’re not changing our minds.” Sungjin said. “You can’t tell people. What if they decide to kick you out?” 

“Then I guess I’ll have to go.” Jae sniffed, still trying to hold back.

“And what if they decide to disband us?” Wonpil asked.

“They wouldn’t.” Jae said, sounding way more sure than he felt.

“How would you know?” Brian asked. “It’s not like we’re the company’s golden goose. They really could just end our contracts.” 

“You can’t go through with this, hyung.” Sungjin once again spoke his mind.

“Guys.” Jae looked at everyone. “There’s nothing in my life I love more than DAY6.” He leaned back on the couch. “I’m really thankful for you all, for all the memories we’ve made together… like, sometimes I just stop and think… man, there’s no way the universe has brought together these people with such different colors… and that they grew to be incredibly in sync at making music together. I mean, do you guys remember how much we would fight in the beginning?” He shared a bittersweet giggle and the others followed. “And everything we’ve been through together, you know? How we had it rough since we started… But, honestly, the weirdest, most surprising part is how these people have now become a family.” He paused for a second. “And, like, how lucky am I to be a part of this family?” He smiled. “I know I could end things with Kriesha. But I really don’t want to. Because, well, I love her… and I have never felt that before. To be honest, for a while there I kinda just shut the door for anything related to romance in my life… And yet she managed to get in anyway.” He shrugged. “You know when it’s, like, crazy raining outside? Those days when you’re actually really fucking scared to just step outside because it’s so cold and the wind is so strong you’re scared you might die out there or something?” The boys shared confused looks between each other, but nodded so Jae could go on. “And even though you’re scared shitless, it’s no use to hide at home because what you want the most in the world is to feel the rain on your skin.” He closed his eyes and smiled. “So you try your best to avoid it, but ultimately you give in and just… go.” Jae remained silent for a couple of seconds before reopening his eyes. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… I don’t want to leave. I won’t leave. And if you guys don’t support me on this, I’ll understand. I don’t want to jeopardize our careers either, but I also know I won’t be able to hide my relationship.” He spoke honestly. “I really hate to ask you this, but I’m all out of options. So here I am, asking for you guys to think about it. Consider the possibility, I don’t know, just… don’t shut me down.”

“Hyung, I…” Dowoon, who had been sitting quietly for the most part of the conversation, suddenly said. “I’ll support you.” He sounded hesitant, but still continued. “I think it’s crazy, but if that’s what’s gonna make you happy… I’m with you.” He turned to face the others. “And I think you hyungs should, too.”

“What?!” Sungjin couldn’t believe the youngest’s words.

“Yeah, what?” Jae looked at Dowoon. “You really mean it?” He felt his eyes filling up again.

“Yeah, hyung.” He confirmed. “I’d be lying if I said I’m not scared. But I remember how tough it was on you the few months you were apart. It felt like you were never fully there… we were only getting half of you. And I didn’t like it.” 

“None of us did.” Brian pointed out.

“Yeah… Hyung was like a zombie.” Wonpil completed. “Making a lot of mistakes, too.”

“I remember.” Sungjin stated. “But you know what I also remember? Losing Junhyeok.” 

The room was instantly silent for a while. It’s weird to think they barely even spoke the guy’s name anymore. As soon as he left the band, their company basically prohibited any contact whatsoever they could have with each other. Later on, they made DAY6 re record every single song that had Junhyeok’s voice in it, and even had the boys lie saying it was because they weren’t arranged the way they wanted it to be. 

With Junhyeok’s departure from the band, things got really complicated and hard on DAY6. The circumstances also took its toll on the boys, and they were all wondering now if they could survive another dating scandal. 

“That was totally different and you know it.” Brian said to Sungjin. “Even if I don’t support Jae now, it’s not because of this past. Junhyeok really messed up. He didn’t deserve the treatment he got, but he was wrong.”

“And I’m just trying to do right. I wanna come clean, guys. I don’t wanna hide and risk people finding out some other way.” Jae explained. “ _ That _ is something we should be scared of.”

“I agree.” Dowoon spoke again. “I think if hyung is just trying to be honest, we should let him. And support him.”

Jae closed his eyes and faintly smiled when he heard Dowoon’s words, because he couldn’t believe how special that kid was. 

“That’s… it’s hard to wrap my mind around it.” Brian admitted. “I think it’s too risky.”

“Maybe Jae hyung is right. We should all just sleep on it.” Sungjin said and the boys nodded; some of them making their way back to their rooms, others just continuing to sit there, silently. 

All of them worried about the same thing.

Their future.

***

It wasn’t the next day that the boys would agree to support Jae’s decision. In fact, they asked Jae to wait until after their comeback (which was still two weeks away) to talk about it again, to which the boy agreed. The problem was, right after promotions ended, Jae knew they would begin their first world tour and he feared the timing would be even worse than now. Still, he did as their friends asked and waited for promotions to be over so he could bring the topic back again.

Meanwhile, Jae and Kriesha kept seeing each other, but were extra careful about it. Sometimes it was fun and exciting, all the secrecy and sneaking around; but for the most part it was just sad and hard and incredibly frustrating not to be able to live as freely as they wished.

“For the last time, Jae, our ship name cannot be Jaehyungparksha.” Kriesha rolled her eyes sitting on the couch with her legs curled up.

“Well, I think it has a nice ring to it.” Jae shrugged, as if he was actually serious.

“Besides… People already gave us a name, you know?” She raised an eyebrow. “Some of our fans actually like us together as a couple.” She said, making Jae furrow his forehead. “Well, okay, mostly my fans.” She laughed, sarcastically. “Anyway, they call us Jaechu. Cute and short.” 

“Like you.” He leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips. “Jaechu.” He repeated it. “I like it.” The boy looked at Kriesha and she was smiling. 

“What are you doing?” She narrowed her eyes, looking suspicious.

“I’m looking at you.” He answered.

“Yeah, but why are you looking at me  _ like that _ ?” She seemed confused.

“Can I ask you a question?” Jae reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers.

“Sure?” The girl replied, hesitantly.

“Do you ever regret it? This?” He pointed at them both. “Us?” 

“What?!” Kriesha shook her head. 

“It’s just… I know it’s hard, you know?” He shrugged. “And I wonder if sometimes you think maybe it would be best if we never met or if we never got involved in the first place.” 

“Well, I think it’s safe to say this thought has not even once crossed my mind… But do  _ you _ feel like that?” She kept staring at him, waiting for a response.

“Not at all.” Jae kissed her again. “Do I wish things were different? Of course. I wish people would just… let us be. But being with you?” He smiled, running the tip of his fingers gently on her face. “I don’t regret it one bit.” Kriesha felt her heart melt the instant she heard his words. 

“You know... In all this mess, I worry about you most of all.” She said in all honesty. “People don’t really care about me as much.” She shrugged.

“That’s not true!” Jae tried to deny her words.

“Hey, hey!” She giggled, placing a kiss on his cheek. “It’s okay!” She took both of her hands to his neck. “For once, it’s a good thing.” 

“Babe, you’re so talented. Like, for real. You know that, right?” Jae meant every word he said. The girl faintly nodded, more out of consideration than agreement. “I’m serious!”

“I know you are.” She smiled. “And I love you for it.” She paused for a second. “It’s just… hard sometimes. But it’ll be okay. I know I do my best in everything I do. That’s enough. It’s gotta be.” 

Without saying anything else, Jae pulled her closer, laying her head on his chest and moving her hair a little so he could kiss her forehead. 

“You’re already a star.” He reassured her as she buried her face in his chest. “And the world’s gonna see that. Soon.” 

  


* * *

  


DAY6 was done with music shows promotions and fansigning events for their latest comeback, but were still in the middle of one of the busiest years of their careers, currently on their first world tour (which had already started). These were things that always ended up holding Jae back from bringing up the subject he wanted to talk about the most with his bandmates. But this needed to end.

Even though Jae knew it would be stressful, the boy decided he couldn’t go on like this anymore. He needed to be qhonest and stop hiding from the world how he felt.

“Guys, can we talk?” Jae asked.

They sat down in their living room, some on the couch and the others on the floor. They all knew what Jae wanted to discuss and they were all nervous about this recurring subject. 

But they talked about it again. 

The conversation was long and hard and somewhat uncomfortable until they finally reached some common ground.

“Well… we support you.” Brian patted his friend on the back.

“Yeah, hyung.” Sungjin agreed. “We thought about it a lot and, honestly, I still think it’s crazy, but we’re with you.”

“We want you to be happy.” Wonpil smiled.

“I knew I could convince these guys.” Dowoon said, proud of himself. “Hyung, we’ll always be here for you.”

“Guys… are you for real?” Jae couldn’t believe it. Yes, it was what he wanted and yes, it was what he asked for, but a part of him thought he would have to keep hiding his relationship for as long as it lasted.

“Yeah.” Wonpil said and they all smiled as soon as they notice the boy’s reaction. Jae tried his hardest not to cry, but all efforts were in vain.

“I don’t know what to say…” His eyes were red and his head felt like it was going to explode from the pressure of trying to hold  back the tears there were already rolling down his cheek. “I’m sorry, I just—”

“We know.” Even though Brian was against it at first, he was now comforted by how happy and relieved his friend looked.

“But hyung, we’re going on a world tour now.” Sungjin pointed out. “Are you sure you want to bring this to light  _ now _ ?” 

“Also, how are you planning on working this out? You’ll be apart for a long while.” Wonpil looked like a confused meme, making Jae laugh.

To be honest, he was so happy that he would probably laugh at anything.

“We’ll manage.” Jae stated. “Not to sound like a total cliche that just came out of a Korean drama, but the important thing is that we know we have each other.” 

“Wahh… hyung might make me cry.” Dowoon said and they all kinda giggled.

“So... what now?” Wonpil asked.

“I don’t know.” Jae replied. “Maybe we should call for a meeting? Or should I just go alone?” He shook his head. “I honestly don’t know.” 

“Whatever you decide, we’re here for you.” Brian reassured him.

“Thanks, guys.” He smiled. “I don’t even know how to properly thank you.” 

“You could let us borrow your foam cleanser for once.” Sungjin suggested.

“What?! But you guys already steal all my—” He stopped to take a breath. “You know what? Never mind. Sure you can use it.” The guys were all laughing under their breath.

“Hyung,” Brian started. “In all honesty now, I think you should talk to manager Lee first.”

“I agree.” Sungjin added.

“Yes, I think he’ll understand.” Dowoon stated. “He’ll be happy for you.”

“He wasn’t all that happy when the rumors were out all those months ago…” Jae remembered their manager’s reaction.

“Yeah, but that’s because things blew up  _ before _ you talked to him.” Sungjin pointed out.

“Everyone was shocked, hyung. He was no different.” Wonpil completed.

“You guys are probably right.” Jae sighed. “And if I’m being honest, I’m scared to death to tell them.” He covered his face with his hands and stayed silent for a couple of seconds. “Anyway, I can’t tell you how much your support actually means to me.” The boy felt kind of awkward and embarrassed, which made it hard for him to look his members in the eye. “Thank you so much.” Still, they knew every single word was meant. 

“When will you do it?” Sungjin wanted to know.

“Uh… as soon as possible?” Jae was a little hesitant. “Tomorrow, even.” 

“And you’re really sure about this? That it’s worth it?” He insisted.

“Yeah, man.” Jae nodded. “I’m positive.”

“We should go to sleep.” Brian said, suddenly. “Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day.”

“Yeah, hyung is right.” Dowoon agreed. “Can you please go to your rooms so I can sleep peacefully here?” 

“I’ll never understand why you’d rather sleep on the couch than on your bed.” Sungjin shook his head and the others chuckled, but they still got up intending to make their way to their rooms.

“Good night.” Jae said to all, thinking to himself that it actually felt like one.

Before he went to sleep, the boy grabbed his phone to text Kriesha.

  


**_You: Babe_ **

**_You: I talked to them_ **

**_You: They agreed_ **

**_You: I’m gonna go public_ **

  


**_Kriesha: Wgay??@?!??@_ **

**_Kriesha: What????*_ **

**_Kriesha: You're joking, right???_ **

  


**_You: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ_ **

**_You: I’m not_ **

**_You: I’m actually serious_ **

**_You: I’m gonna talk to our manager tomorrow_ **

**_You: wish me luck_ **

  


**_Kriesha: Jae, are you sure about this?_ **

  


**_You: Yep_ **

  


**_Kriesha: Aren't you scared?_ **

  


**_You: Yep_ **

  


**_Kriesha: But you're still gonna do it?_ **

  


**_You: Yep_ **

  


**_Kriesha: You're insane._ **

  


**_You: Well, now you're just stating facts_ **

  


**_Kriesha: Stop being silly!_ **

**_Kriesha: I'm actually worried._ **

  


**_You: Hey_ **

**_You: Relax_ **

**_You: It's gonna be okay_ **

**_You: And if it's not, we'll manage_ **

  


**_Kriesha: :(_ **

**_Kriesha: Okay_ **

**_Kriesha: Can I just say something?_ **

  


**_You: That you love me?_ **

  


**_Kriesha: Stupid._ **

**_Kriesha: No._ **

  


**_Jae: Oh, wow._ **

  


**_Kriesha: Shut up, I do, but that's not it._ **

  


**_Jae: Then what is it?_ **

  


**_Kriesha: I'm proud of you._ **

**_Kriesha: For fighting for something you believe in. For putting honesty first, even though everyone is advising you to just kinda "go with it"._ **

  


**_Jae: Whoa_ **

**_Jae: Wasn't expecting that_ **

**_Jae: It means a lot yk_ **

**_Jae: I've been thinking of myself as selfish, lately… like I'm putting my needs ahead of my members, who care about me…_ **

**_Jae: So it really means a lot that you think I'm doing something worth being proud of_ **

**_Jae: Thank you_ **

  


**_Kriesha: Babe?_ **

  


**_Jae: Yeah?_ **

  


**_Kriesha: I love you._ **

  


**_Jae: As you should…_ **

  


**_Kriesha: *eyeroll emoji*_ **

**_Kriesha: Asshole_ **

  


**_Jae: I love you too_ **

**_Jae: More than you know_ **

  


**_Kriesha: Good night, Jae._ **

**_Kriesha: And good luck tomorrow._ **

**_Kriesha: I'm here._ **

  


**_Jae: Thank you._ **

**_Jae: Good night._ **

**_Jae: ♡_ **


End file.
